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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · spell · tube · capital · stem · court · rock · band

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. How do you ________________ your surname?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. court — of law
  6. tube — the underground
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. stem — to come from
  10. band — a ring
  11. spell — a short time
  12. rock — music
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — money
  15. spell — letters
  16. tube — a container
  17. band — a rubber band
  18. band — a music group
  19. rock — a stone
  20. court — for sport
  21. clip — for paper
  22. court — of a king
  23. stem — a stem cell
  24. spell — magic

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com