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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  11. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  14. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. clip — a video
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. ball — a dance
  10. current — happening now
  11. ball — a round shape
  12. ball — a great time
  13. current — electric
  14. pitch — completely
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — for paper
  18. march — music
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. clip — to cut
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. current — of water
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. capital — money

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