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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 keeps ________________ of his days.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. track — to keep track
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. prune — to trim
  4. clip — a video
  5. prune — to trim
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. capital — a city
  9. cell — a phone
  10. season — in sport
  11. cell — in biology
  12. track — a song
  13. clip — for paper
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. capital — money
  16. season — of the year
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. clip — to cut
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. track — a path
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. cell — in a prison

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