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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  8. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  11. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. That was a fun ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. clip — to cut
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. clip — for paper
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. clip — a video
  7. last — finally
  8. scale — in music
  9. cap — a lid
  10. last — final
  11. can — a tin
  12. game — wild animals
  13. cap — a hat
  14. capital — money
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. game — a match
  17. cap — of ice
  18. scale — size or range
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. can — a tin
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. capital — a city
  23. can — to be able to
  24. last — to go on

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