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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  4. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  8. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  9. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  20. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. spell — letters
  3. safe — out of danger
  4. spell — magic
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. capital — a city
  7. mate — a friend
  8. safe — out of danger
  9. spell — a short time
  10. stock — goods
  11. mate — to breed
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. mate — a partner
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. clip — for paper
  17. safe — a strongbox
  18. clip — a video
  19. fine — high quality
  20. mine — an explosive
  21. stock — shares
  22. fine — all right
  23. mine — for digging
  24. capital — money

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