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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. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  24. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?

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

Answer key

  1. present — a gift
  2. rest — a break
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. rest — what's left
  5. capital — money
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. rest — what's left
  9. capital — a city
  10. nail — on a finger
  11. clip — a video
  12. scale — in music
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. scale — size or range
  15. clip — for paper
  16. present — the time now
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — to breed
  19. content — the amount
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. present — there
  23. content — happy
  24. mate — a friend

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