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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  3. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. I can't ________________ this cold.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  20. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rock — to move gently
  3. rock — music
  4. clip — a video
  5. degree — from a university
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. degree — an amount
  10. stand — to bear
  11. land — a country
  12. degree — temperature
  13. stand — for spectators
  14. land — ground
  15. scale — in music
  16. land — to come down
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. chip — for betting
  20. rock — a stone
  21. scale — size or range
  22. clip — for paper
  23. chip — to eat
  24. capital — money

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