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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  19. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  20. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I have a corn on my right ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. scale — for weighing
  6. clip — for paper
  7. board — to get on
  8. clip — a video
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. scale — in music
  11. board — a committee
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. hand — help
  14. scale — size or range
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. mine — for digging
  18. wake — a trail
  19. foot — the bottom
  20. board — a flat piece
  21. capital — a city
  22. foot — a measure
  23. clip — to cut
  24. foot — part of the body

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