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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 120 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 black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  19. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  20. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bear — the animal
  3. wind — moving air
  4. capital — a city
  5. staff — employees
  6. swing — to play on
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. clip — to cut
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. clip — for paper
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. capital — money
  15. staff — employees
  16. swing — in golf
  17. swing — music
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. bear — the animal
  20. staff — a stick
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. arm — a part of something
  23. clip — a video
  24. wind — moving air

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