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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 girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  20. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. capital — money
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. club — for dancing
  6. club — a group
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. clip — to cut
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. clip — for paper
  11. bound — tied together
  12. club — for golf
  13. track — a song
  14. clip — a video
  15. row — to paddle
  16. season — in sport
  17. track — a path
  18. season — of the year
  19. track — to keep track
  20. row — a quarrel
  21. capital — a city
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. bound — certain
  24. bound — obliged

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