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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 124 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 soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  2. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  5. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  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. drill — army training
  2. rash — a series
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. club — a group
  5. craft — a skill
  6. capital — money
  7. club — for golf
  8. capital — a city
  9. craft — a handicraft
  10. drill — the tool
  11. clip — to cut
  12. content — the amount
  13. club — for dancing
  14. bank — for money
  15. clip — for paper
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. drill — a practice
  18. craft — boats
  19. bank — for money
  20. rash — hasty
  21. bank — of a river
  22. content — happy
  23. rash — on the skin
  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