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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  8. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  12. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  17. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  18. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  19. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  20. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  21. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pitch — completely
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. clip — for paper
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. clip — to cut
  7. jam — a tight spot
  8. jam — to spread on bread
  9. hand — help
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. branch — of a tree
  12. stick — a piece of wood
  13. hand — in cards
  14. clip — a video
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. sharp — clever
  17. pitch — a sports field
  18. pitch — a sales talk
  19. jam — in traffic
  20. branch — a division
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — a city
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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