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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. That must've been a ________________.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Have you found your soul ________________?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  9. Have you met the new head ________________?
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — a thrill
  2. clip — for paper
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. club — a group
  5. clip — a video
  6. mate — a partner
  7. capital — money
  8. bark — to shout
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. roll — a list
  14. mate — to breed
  15. clip — to cut
  16. rush — hurry
  17. roll — a cake
  18. club — for dancing
  19. mate — a friend
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. club — for golf
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — a city

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