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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. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  5. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. kid — child
  4. march — the month
  5. press — newspapers
  6. clip — to cut
  7. march — the month
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. wax — for sculpting
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. march — music
  12. can — a tin
  13. clip — a video
  14. capital — a city
  15. kid — to tease
  16. press — to push
  17. mark — a grade
  18. wax — to grow
  19. can — to be able to
  20. capital — money
  21. mark — a trace
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. press — a publisher
  24. clip — for paper

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