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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. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  7. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  24. The King held a masked ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. club — for golf
  3. capital — a city
  4. clip — a video
  5. kid — child
  6. jam — in traffic
  7. jam — to spread on bread
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. clip — to cut
  10. club — a group
  11. club — for dancing
  12. clip — for paper
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a great time
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. kid — to tease
  19. jam — a tight spot
  20. rush — hurry
  21. cap — of ice
  22. capital — money
  23. cap — a lid
  24. ball — a dance

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