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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ took off on time.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  21. The King held a masked ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. plane — an aircraft
  3. clip — a video
  4. plane — a tool
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. bay — a part of the sea
  8. clip — for paper
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. kid — child
  11. capital — money
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. clip — to cut
  14. ball — a great time
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. rock — a stone
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. wind — moving air
  19. rock — music
  20. bay — to keep at bay
  21. ball — a dance
  22. wind — moving air
  23. kid — to tease
  24. capital — a big letter

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