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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 120 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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  6. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  9. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. There's no middle ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  23. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  24. Add some ________________ pepper to it.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. cell — a phone
  5. track — a path
  6. lie — to recline
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. track — to keep track
  10. bass — the fish
  11. ground — a position
  12. clip — a video
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. track — a song
  15. clip — for paper
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. bass — low music
  18. capital — a city
  19. ground — the earth
  20. cell — in biology
  21. clip — to cut
  22. lie — an untruth
  23. lie — an untruth
  24. ground — crushed

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