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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  20. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. present — a gift
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cap — a hat
  5. clip — a video
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. clip — to cut
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. cap — a lid
  10. firm — decided
  11. band — a ring
  12. firm — steady
  13. present — there
  14. dip — to sink
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. row — a line
  18. capital — a city
  19. firm — a company
  20. band — a music group
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. row — to paddle
  23. cap — of ice
  24. present — the time now

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