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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. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  2. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  13. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. The light ________________ burned out.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. net — for catching
  2. craft — boats
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — a video
  5. clip — for paper
  6. kick — with a leg
  7. clip — to cut
  8. file — a document
  9. capital — money
  10. present — a gift
  11. present — the time now
  12. present — there
  13. craft — a handicraft
  14. capital — a city
  15. kick — a thrill
  16. file — a line of people
  17. bulb — for light
  18. net — in sport
  19. bulb — for light
  20. craft — a skill
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. file — a tool
  23. net — after costs
  24. kick — in football

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