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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. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  5. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rock — music
  2. cell — a phone
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. ground — the earth
  5. ground — crushed
  6. capital — a city
  7. ground — a position
  8. clip — a video
  9. rock — a stone
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. clip — to cut
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. clip — for paper
  14. tube — a container
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. pitch — a sports field
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. pitch — completely
  23. cell — in biology
  24. tube — the underground

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