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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. False peace will not ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  16. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. last — to go on
  3. clip — a video
  4. tear — from crying
  5. capital — a city
  6. staff — employees
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — money
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. last — finally
  11. tear — to rip
  12. bear — the animal
  13. tear — from crying
  14. march — the month
  15. bear — to put up with
  16. branch — a division
  17. bear — the animal
  18. last — final
  19. branch — of a tree
  20. staff — a stick
  21. march — music
  22. clip — for paper
  23. march — the month
  24. staff — employees

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