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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 120 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. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  9. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. Did you ________________ the button?
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I'll be taking the ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. capital — a city
  3. rash — hasty
  4. hand — in cards
  5. rash — a series
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. tube — a container
  8. press — newspapers
  9. pound — to hit hard
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. clip — to cut
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. press — to push
  17. capital — money
  18. tube — the underground
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pound — a weight
  21. hand — help
  22. wound — an injury
  23. press — a publisher
  24. clip — a video

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