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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. The ________________ took off on time.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. season — of the year
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. plane — an aircraft
  7. court — for sport
  8. plane — a tool
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. kid — child
  11. clip — a video
  12. clip — to cut
  13. kid — to tease
  14. season — in sport
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. court — of a king
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. court — of law
  20. clip — for paper
  21. fork — to eat with
  22. fork — in a road
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. capital — a city

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