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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: band · capital · trunk · cap · rest · toast · mine · scale

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  15. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. toast — a drink to someone
  3. scale — in music
  4. band — a rubber band
  5. rest — what's left
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. cap — a hat
  11. band — a ring
  12. capital — money
  13. rest — a break
  14. band — a music group
  15. rest — what's left
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. trunk — of an elephant
  18. mine — for digging
  19. cap — a lid
  20. toast — bread
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. cap — of ice
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. scale — size or range

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