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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: hand · capital · drill · cold · cabinet · roll · band · arm

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. What do you think of the new ________________?
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  18. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cabinet — a cupboard
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cold — an illness
  6. cabinet — ministers
  7. drill — a practice
  8. hand — help
  9. band — a ring
  10. cold — not warm
  11. roll — a cake
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. arm — a part of something
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. drill — the tool
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. roll — a list
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. capital — a city
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. hand — in cards
  22. band — a music group
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. drill — army training

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