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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  6. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  7. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  12. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  13. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. club — a group
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. deal — to handle
  6. chair — to sit on
  7. deal — a big deal
  8. drill — army training
  9. clip — to cut
  10. clip — for paper
  11. plane — a tool
  12. plane — in geometry
  13. chair — a professorship
  14. cell — in biology
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. clip — a video
  17. club — for dancing
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. chair — a leader
  20. club — for golf
  21. cell — a phone
  22. drill — the tool
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. drill — a practice

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