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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: file · band · coach · capital · racket · kid · clip · bound

  1. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. That was ________________ to happen.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — obliged
  2. clip — for paper
  3. capital — a city
  4. bound — certain
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. racket — a loud noise
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. clip — a video
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. band — a music group
  12. clip — to cut
  13. file — a line of people
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. kid — child
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. file — a tool
  19. bound — tied together
  20. file — a document
  21. band — a ring
  22. capital — money
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. kid — to tease

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