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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. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. mug — to rob
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — a city
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. clip — for paper
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. rule — a law
  10. cap — a lid
  11. ground — crushed
  12. rule — government
  13. capital — money
  14. wind — moving air
  15. deal — an agreement
  16. mug — a face
  17. cap — a hat
  18. deal — to handle
  19. ground — the earth
  20. ground — a position
  21. mug — a cup
  22. cap — of ice
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. wind — moving air

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