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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. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. This piece is in a major ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Hard work is the ________________ to success.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. capital — a city
  3. sharp — clever
  4. clip — for paper
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. chip — to eat
  7. clip — to cut
  8. chip — for betting
  9. stand — on your feet
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. stand — to bear
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. key — in music
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. key — for a lock
  17. clip — a video
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. bat — the animal
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. key — the most important part

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