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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. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. Have you met the new head ________________?
  7. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — a video
  4. fine — high quality
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. fine — a penalty
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. snap — to click
  11. spring — a coil
  12. season — in sport
  13. capital — money
  14. fan — to cool the air
  15. fine — all right
  16. spring — of water
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. clip — to cut
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. capital — a city
  21. season — of the year
  22. clip — for paper
  23. coach — pulled by horses
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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