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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  10. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  11. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  20. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. clip — to cut
  3. swing — music
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. capital — a city
  6. content — happy
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. capital — money
  9. rule — government
  10. rest — a break
  11. rule — a law
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rest — what's left
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. clip — for paper
  16. prune — to trim
  17. clip — a video
  18. swing — in golf
  19. lie — an untruth
  20. rule — to rule out
  21. rest — what's left
  22. content — the amount
  23. swing — to play on
  24. lie — to recline

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