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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
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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: band · last · mine · straw · press · capital · fork · stock

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  10. Did you ________________ the button?
  11. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. band — a music group
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. stock — goods
  6. capital — money
  7. last — final
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. stock — a soup base
  10. press — to push
  11. fork — a garden tool
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. press — a publisher
  14. capital — a city
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. band — a ring
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. mine — for digging
  20. press — newspapers
  21. stock — shares
  22. fork — in a road
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. last — to go on

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