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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.

Make a worksheet

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: coach · rash · leaves · capital · band · content · kick · clip

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. Have you met the new head ________________?
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  15. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. clip — for paper
  3. band — a music group
  4. capital — a city
  5. content — happy
  6. clip — to cut
  7. content — the amount
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. band — a ring
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. rash — hasty
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. kick — in football
  15. content — videos and posts
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. capital — money
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. rash — a series
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. clip — a video

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