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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. What do you think of the new ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cabinet — ministers
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. clip — for paper
  5. cabinet — ministers
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — a city
  8. spell — magic
  9. bat — the animal
  10. cabinet — a cupboard
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. spell — letters
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — to play on
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. cap — of ice
  17. bark — to shout
  18. cap — a hat
  19. cap — a lid
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. clip — a video
  22. spell — a short time
  23. capital — money
  24. swing — in golf

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