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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  16. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. saw — past of 'see'
  3. degree — from a university
  4. chip — to eat
  5. march — music
  6. capital — money
  7. degree — temperature
  8. wind — moving air
  9. chip — for betting
  10. clip — a video
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. march — the month
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. wind — moving air
  15. cue — a signal
  16. cue — for pool
  17. cue — a hint
  18. clip — to cut
  19. march — the month
  20. degree — an amount
  21. clip — for paper
  22. saw — the tool
  23. saw — the tool
  24. chip — in a computer

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