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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  18. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. clip — a video
  4. club — a group
  5. wind — moving air
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. cap — of ice
  9. clip — to cut
  10. wave — a sudden rise
  11. wind — moving air
  12. snap — to click
  13. cap — a lid
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. ruler — for measuring
  16. clip — for paper
  17. wave — with your hand
  18. club — for dancing
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. capital — money
  21. cap — a hat
  22. ruler — for measuring
  23. capital — a city
  24. wave — of the sea

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