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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. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  10. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — to cut
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. rest — what's left
  7. stem — of a plant
  8. capital — a city
  9. rest — a break
  10. pitcher — a jug
  11. capital — money
  12. stem — a stem cell
  13. staff — a stick
  14. stem — to come from
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. rest — what's left
  18. clip — for paper
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — employees
  24. clip — a video

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