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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. That was ________________ to happen.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bound — certain
  4. bound — obliged
  5. saw — the tool
  6. saw — the tool
  7. clip — a video
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. pitcher — a jug
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — to cut
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. wax — to grow
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wax — in the ear
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. hand — help
  21. pitch — completely
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. bound — tied together
  24. capital — money

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