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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 120 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: band · ruler · bulb · stem · rest · capital · cold · clip

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  10. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The light ________________ burned out.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. clip — a video
  4. bulb — of a plant
  5. rest — a break
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. clip — for paper
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. stem — a stem cell
  10. ruler — for measuring
  11. bulb — for light
  12. stem — to come from
  13. capital — a city
  14. bulb — for light
  15. band — a music group
  16. cold — not warm
  17. capital — money
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. stem — of a plant
  20. band — a ring
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cold — an illness
  23. rest — what's left
  24. clip — to cut

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