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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  11. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  12. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. Where did you ________________ them?
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  17. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The moon will ________________ and wane.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. snap — to click
  3. rest — what's left
  4. mug — a cup
  5. saw — the tool
  6. clip — a video
  7. rest — a break
  8. clip — to cut
  9. saw — the tool
  10. wax — for sculpting
  11. roll — a list
  12. wax — in the ear
  13. clip — for paper
  14. mug — to rob
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. rest — what's left
  17. roll — a cake
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. mug — a face
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. capital — money
  24. wax — to grow

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