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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. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  9. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Have you settled on a ________________?
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  18. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  22. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  23. I can't ________________ this cold.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. clip — to cut
  3. bass — the fish
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. mug — a cup
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. capital — money
  8. date — the fruit
  9. mug — a face
  10. degree — temperature
  11. stand — on your feet
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. capital — a city
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. clip — for paper
  17. bass — the instrument
  18. degree — an amount
  19. degree — from a university
  20. clip — a video
  21. bass — low music
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. stand — to bear
  24. mug — to rob

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