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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. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  17. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. capital — money
  3. deal — an agreement
  4. capital — a city
  5. ball — a great time
  6. clip — a video
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. clip — for paper
  9. staff — employees
  10. ball — a dance
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. rest — a break
  13. deal — to handle
  14. staff — a stick
  15. clip — to cut
  16. staff — employees
  17. rest — what's left
  18. deal — a big deal

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