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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
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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 · bat · plane · capital · cold · clip · saw · suit

  1. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. When will it ________________ you to start?
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. cold — not warm
  3. clip — for paper
  4. clip — a video
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. saw — the tool
  9. capital — money
  10. clip — to cut
  11. suit — to fit
  12. capital — a city
  13. bat — the animal
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. band — a ring
  16. saw — the tool
  17. suit — clothes
  18. band — a music group
  19. suit — in cards
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. cold — an illness
  22. saw — past of 'see'
  23. plane — a tool
  24. plane — in geometry

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