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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. Did you ________________ the button?
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. press — newspapers
  5. chest — of your body
  6. capital — a city
  7. chest — of your body
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. fork — to eat with
  10. press — a publisher
  11. press — to push
  12. clip — to cut
  13. chest — a box
  14. capital — money
  15. prune — to trim
  16. field — a subject
  17. bank — of a river
  18. fork — in a road
  19. prune — to trim
  20. bank — for money
  21. field — farmland
  22. bank — for money
  23. field — for sport
  24. prune — the fruit

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