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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 120 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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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: lean · current · band · hand · capital · rule · clip · bear

  1. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  24. He is as ________________ as a wolf.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. bear — the animal
  3. capital — a city
  4. band — a ring
  5. bear — the animal
  6. hand — help
  7. current — electric
  8. lean — to rest against
  9. capital — money
  10. band — a music group
  11. rule — a law
  12. lean — to bend
  13. hand — in cards
  14. clip — to cut
  15. clip — a video
  16. bear — to put up with
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. current — happening now
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. current — of water
  21. clip — for paper
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. rule — government
  24. lean — thin

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