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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  14. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  17. I can't ________________ this cold.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cap — of ice
  3. kick — in football
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. deal — to handle
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. capital — money
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. deal — an agreement
  14. fall — to drop
  15. clip — a video
  16. row — to paddle
  17. stand — to bear
  18. capital — a city
  19. row — a line
  20. deal — a big deal
  21. cap — a hat
  22. fall — to drop
  23. fall — the season
  24. cap — a lid

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