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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. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The ________________ market has crashed.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pass — to succeed
  3. kick — in football
  4. capital — money
  5. game — a kind of play
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. stock — shares
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. game — wild animals
  10. clip — a video
  11. hand — in cards
  12. capital — a city
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. stock — goods
  16. pass — a permit
  17. hand — help
  18. clip — for paper
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. game — a match
  22. clip — to cut
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. ruler — for measuring

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