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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  20. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. That was ________________ to happen.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. rash — a series
  4. clip — a video
  5. wind — moving air
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. rash — hasty
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. face — to confront
  10. leaves — of a tree
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. bound — obliged
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. face — to point toward
  15. clip — for paper
  16. capital — a city
  17. bound — tied together
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. rash — on the skin
  20. face — part of the head
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bound — certain
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. wind — moving air

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