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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. I'll be taking the ________________.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  21. That was a fun ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pound — a weight
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. game — wild animals
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. clip — for paper
  8. dip — to sink
  9. tube — the underground
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. capital — money
  12. pass — to spend time
  13. capital — a city
  14. tube — a container
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. pass — to succeed
  18. clip — a video
  19. clip — to cut
  20. tube — in a tire
  21. game — a match
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. court — of a king
  24. pass — a permit

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