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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  16. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  17. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. Have you met the new head ________________?
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. clip — to cut
  4. present — a gift
  5. club — a group
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. present — the time now
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. club — for dancing
  11. firm — steady
  12. clip — a video
  13. club — for golf
  14. clip — for paper
  15. stem — of a plant
  16. stem — to come from
  17. calf — a young animal
  18. firm — decided
  19. capital — money
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. coach — a trainer
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. present — there
  24. firm — a company

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