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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. When will it ________________ you to start?
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  12. We're almost out of ________________.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  19. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. You don't need to ________________ round.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. capital — a city
  3. wave — a sudden rise
  4. clip — a video
  5. suit — to fit
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. clip — for paper
  8. season — in sport
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. season — of the year
  12. pop — soda
  13. chest — of your body
  14. suit — in cards
  15. capital — money
  16. chest — of your body
  17. clip — to cut
  18. chest — a box
  19. suit — clothes
  20. band — a music group
  21. pop — music
  22. pop — to visit
  23. band — a ring
  24. band — a rubber band

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