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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. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  7. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  11. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  17. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  21. Have you found your soul ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The ball is in your ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. mine — for digging
  3. file — a document
  4. clip — for paper
  5. capital — money
  6. court — of a king
  7. craft — a skill
  8. mate — to breed
  9. court — of law
  10. craft — a handicraft
  11. safe — out of danger
  12. mate — a friend
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. safe — out of danger
  15. clip — a video
  16. safe — a strongbox
  17. craft — boats
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. clip — to cut
  20. mine — belonging to me
  21. mate — a partner
  22. file — a line of people
  23. court — for sport
  24. file — a tool

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