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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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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: capital · pound · staff · band · clip · mark · cell · temple

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. When was this ________________ built?
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. pound — a weight
  3. capital — money
  4. clip — a video
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. staff — a stick
  7. pound — to hit hard
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. cell — in biology
  10. band — a rubber band
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. band — a music group
  13. staff — employees
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. cell — a phone
  16. mark — a trace
  17. capital — a city
  18. clip — to cut
  19. staff — employees
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. clip — for paper
  23. pound — for dogs
  24. mark — a grade

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