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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  10. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  11. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  12. Where did you ________________ them?
  13. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  14. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mug — a cup
  4. row — to paddle
  5. clip — for paper
  6. coach — a trainer
  7. capital — money
  8. swing — music
  9. coach — pulled by horses
  10. stem — of a plant
  11. mug — a face
  12. mug — to rob
  13. swing — in golf
  14. row — a quarrel
  15. clip — a video
  16. row — a line
  17. clip — to cut
  18. stem — a stem cell
  19. cell — a phone
  20. cell — in biology
  21. swing — to play on
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. stem — to come from
  24. cell — in a prison

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