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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. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. last — final
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. last — to go on
  4. clip — to cut
  5. clip — for paper
  6. file — a line of people
  7. bark — to shout
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. capital — a city
  10. press — a publisher
  11. capital — money
  12. ground — crushed
  13. file — a document
  14. bark — a dog's sound
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. mark — a trace
  17. ground — a position
  18. clip — a video
  19. press — newspapers
  20. file — a tool
  21. last — finally
  22. mark — a grade
  23. ground — the earth
  24. press — to push

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