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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 116 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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  11. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  12. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. kick — in football
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. clip — for paper
  5. capital — money
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. clip — a video
  8. kick — a thrill
  9. capital — a city
  10. race — the arms race
  11. vault — an arched ceiling
  12. vault — a safe
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. race — humankind
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. clip — to cut
  17. pitch — completely
  18. race — a contest

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