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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.

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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. What do you think of the new ________________?
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. That was ________________ to happen.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. clip — for paper
  4. present — there
  5. march — music
  6. march — the month
  7. bound — tied together
  8. cabinet — ministers
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. bound — certain
  11. present — a gift
  12. bound — obliged
  13. clip — a video
  14. present — the time now
  15. capital — money
  16. clip — to cut
  17. march — the month
  18. capital — a big letter

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