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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Where did you ________________ them?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. Did you ________________ the button?
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. mug — to rob
  3. clip — for paper
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. clip — to cut
  7. net — after costs
  8. bass — the instrument
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. straw — a straw man
  11. mug — a cup
  12. net — in sport
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. date — the fruit
  16. mug — a face
  17. clip — a video
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. press — to push
  20. net — for catching
  21. press — newspapers
  22. bass — the fish
  23. press — a publisher
  24. bass — low 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