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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  14. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. current — of water
  3. clip — a video
  4. chair — a leader
  5. press — to push
  6. clip — for paper
  7. kid — to tease
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. current — electric
  10. squash — the sport
  11. clip — to cut
  12. capital — money
  13. press — a publisher
  14. last — final
  15. last — to go on
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. squash — to crush
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. squash — the vegetable
  20. current — happening now
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. kid — child
  23. last — finally
  24. press — newspapers

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