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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 116 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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  20. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. pound — for dogs
  3. club — a group
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. capital — a city
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. club — for golf
  9. bound — tied together
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. pound — a weight
  12. bound — obliged
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. bound — certain
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. club — for dancing
  18. bat — the animal
  19. season — in sport
  20. season — of the year
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — to cut
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. clip — a video

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