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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  8. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  9. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  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. capital — a big letter
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. hide — to keep secret
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. clip — a video
  7. charge — in control
  8. charge — electricity
  9. trunk — of a car
  10. charge — a price
  11. hide — animal skin
  12. snap — to click
  13. content — happy
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. capital — a city
  17. game — wild animals
  18. content — the amount
  19. game — a match
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  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