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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. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. foot — the bottom
  2. drill — the tool
  3. clip — for paper
  4. cold — not warm
  5. foot — a measure
  6. capital — a city
  7. cold — an illness
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. snap — to click
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. fine — high quality
  15. drill — a practice
  16. fine — all right
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. drill — army training
  19. clip — a video
  20. foot — part of the body
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. clip — to cut
  24. racket — a loud noise

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