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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 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. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  5. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. safe — out of danger
  3. spring — of water
  4. drill — the tool
  5. safe — a strongbox
  6. clip — a video
  7. safe — out of danger
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. drill — a practice
  12. squash — to crush
  13. squash — the sport
  14. capital — a city
  15. capital — money
  16. drill — army training
  17. clip — to cut
  18. clip — for paper

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