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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. I'll be taking the ________________.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  17. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. She got the top ________________ in the exam.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. tube — the underground
  5. clip — a video
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. mark — a trace
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. bear — the animal
  12. bear — the animal
  13. hand — help
  14. sharp — clever
  15. tube — a container
  16. mark — to pay attention
  17. board — a flat piece
  18. board — to get on
  19. board — a committee
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. capital — money
  22. hand — in cards
  23. capital — a city
  24. mark — a grade

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