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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  11. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  20. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  23. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. safe — out of danger
  6. capital — money
  7. clip — to cut
  8. wax — to grow
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. bark — a dog's sound
  11. bark — of a tree
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. club — for golf
  15. bark — to shout
  16. wax — in the ear
  17. clip — a video
  18. club — for dancing
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. dip — to sink
  22. wax — for sculpting
  23. safe — a strongbox
  24. club — a group

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