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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  21. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. object — an aim
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. dip — to sink
  5. object — a thing
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. field — for sport
  8. object — to protest
  9. snap — to click
  10. clip — a video
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — money
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. rule — a law
  15. rule — to rule out
  16. file — a document
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. clip — to cut
  20. rule — government
  21. file — a line of people
  22. field — farmland
  23. field — a subject
  24. file — a tool

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