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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  18. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. game — wild animals
  3. capital — money
  4. clip — a video
  5. capital — a city
  6. mark — a grade
  7. staff — a stick
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. mark — a trace
  10. perch — the fish
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. clip — to cut
  13. game — a kind of play
  14. staff — employees
  15. clip — for paper
  16. staff — employees
  17. mark — to pay attention
  18. perch — for a bird

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