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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  5. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  8. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  12. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I'll be taking the ________________.
  24. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. pop — to visit
  3. capital — money
  4. present — there
  5. present — a gift
  6. fall — the season
  7. fall — to drop
  8. plane — in geometry
  9. plane — a tool
  10. pop — soda
  11. fine — all right
  12. tube — a container
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. fall — to drop
  17. present — the time now
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. capital — a city
  20. fine — high quality
  21. clip — to cut
  22. clip — a video
  23. tube — the underground
  24. pop — music

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