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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  3. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  19. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. The ________________ market has crashed.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. present — there
  3. race — humankind
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. clip — a video
  7. fork — in a road
  8. present — the time now
  9. capital — money
  10. present — a gift
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. stock — goods
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. clip — to cut
  16. race — the arms race
  17. race — a contest
  18. mine — for digging
  19. stock — a soup base
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. pound — a weight
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. stock — shares
  24. clip — for paper

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