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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  12. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  13. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  14. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  15. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  16. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. rock — music
  3. capital — a city
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. clip — for paper
  6. pass — to succeed
  7. clip — a video
  8. rock — a stone
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. rock — to move gently
  12. mine — an explosive
  13. pass — a permit
  14. chair — a leader
  15. pass — to spend time
  16. bound — obliged
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. bound — tied together
  19. pit — a hole
  20. capital — money
  21. pit — in a race
  22. mine — for digging
  23. bound — certain
  24. chair — to sit on

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