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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. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.

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

Answer key

  1. can — a tin
  2. current — of water
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wind — moving air
  5. current — happening now
  6. clip — for paper
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. can — a tin
  9. clip — a video
  10. can — to be able to
  11. capital — a city
  12. scale — for weighing
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. wind — moving air
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. scale — in music
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. scale — size or range
  20. bat — the animal
  21. capital — money
  22. current — electric
  23. clip — to cut
  24. march — 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