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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. There's no middle ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  10. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  17. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  18. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  22. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  23. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. ground — a position
  3. band — a ring
  4. rest — what's left
  5. clip — a video
  6. can — a tin
  7. clip — to cut
  8. capital — a city
  9. can — to be able to
  10. band — a music group
  11. mark — a grade
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. clip — for paper
  15. rest — what's left
  16. ground — crushed
  17. can — a tin
  18. ground — the earth
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. mark — a trace
  22. tear — to rip
  23. band — a rubber band
  24. rest — a break

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