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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  3. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  10. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  22. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  23. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  24. I'll be taking the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. can — to be able to
  3. calf — a young animal
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. clip — for paper
  7. content — the amount
  8. field — for sport
  9. can — a tin
  10. fan — to cool the air
  11. content — happy
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — a video
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. tube — a container
  17. field — farmland
  18. clip — to cut
  19. capital — money
  20. field — a subject
  21. can — a tin
  22. tube — in a tire
  23. calf — a young animal
  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