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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 116 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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  9. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. lie — to recline
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. clip — for paper
  7. march — the month
  8. craft — a handicraft
  9. dip — to sink
  10. shower — to wash
  11. shower — rain
  12. march — the month
  13. file — a tool
  14. craft — a skill
  15. craft — boats
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. clip — a video
  18. march — music
  19. file — a document
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. clip — to cut
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. capital — money
  24. file — a line of people

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