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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  18. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. clip — a video
  3. capital — money
  4. ground — crushed
  5. capital — a city
  6. temple — side of the head
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. ground — a position
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. bulb — for light
  15. roll — a list
  16. bulb — for light
  17. wake — a trail
  18. bulb — of a plant
  19. clip — for paper
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. clip — to cut
  23. mine — for digging
  24. ground — the earth

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