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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 116 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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  12. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  13. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. That was a fun ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. mine — for digging
  3. clip — to cut
  4. capital — a city
  5. current — happening now
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. ball — a dance
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. game — wild animals
  10. spell — letters
  11. ball — a great time
  12. current — electric
  13. mine — belonging to me
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. clip — a video
  16. current — of water
  17. spell — magic
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. game — a match
  21. clip — for paper
  22. capital — money
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. spell — a short time

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