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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  3. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  4. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  10. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the button?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. board — to get on
  3. bark — of a tree
  4. chip — for betting
  5. board — a committee
  6. press — a publisher
  7. bulb — for light
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. board — a flat piece
  10. chip — to eat
  11. mine — for digging
  12. bulb — for light
  13. clip — to cut
  14. capital — money
  15. bark — to shout
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. bulb — of a plant
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. press — newspapers
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — for paper
  24. press — to push

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