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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
468
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 · bear · straw · roll · date · clip · stem

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  14. Have you settled on a ________________?
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. capital — a city
  3. band — a ring
  4. capital — money
  5. stem — to come from
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. stem — a stem cell
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. clip — for paper
  13. roll — a cake
  14. date — on the calendar
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. band — a music group
  21. date — the fruit
  22. roll — a list
  23. clip — to cut
  24. bear — to put up with

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