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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. The light ________________ burned out.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  6. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  12. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. I've got to change the light ________________.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. bulb — for light
  4. cold — not warm
  5. foot — part of the body
  6. rest — what's left
  7. ground — the earth
  8. capital — a city
  9. ground — a position
  10. clip — a video
  11. foot — the bottom
  12. rest — a break
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. bulb — for light
  16. rest — what's left
  17. clip — for paper
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. ground — crushed
  21. clip — to cut
  22. deal — to handle
  23. capital — money
  24. foot — a measure

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