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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. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. We're almost out of ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  10. You don't need to ________________ round.
  11. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. What do you think of the new ________________?
  14. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. track — to keep track
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. pop — soda
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. row — to paddle
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cabinet — a cupboard
  10. pop — to visit
  11. track — a path
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cabinet — ministers
  15. cap — a lid
  16. clip — a video
  17. net — for catching
  18. net — after costs
  19. clip — for paper
  20. pop — music
  21. cap — a hat
  22. row — a line
  23. net — in sport
  24. track — a song

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