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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. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  11. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  12. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  19. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. mate — a friend
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. spell — magic
  5. clip — for paper
  6. toast — the most admired
  7. dip — to sink
  8. spell — a short time
  9. capital — money
  10. staff — a stick
  11. staff — employees
  12. staff — employees
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. mate — a partner
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. toast — bread
  19. dip — to dunk
  20. bat — the animal
  21. mate — to breed
  22. capital — a city
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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