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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  22. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. bat — the animal
  3. ground — a position
  4. branch — a division
  5. capital — a city
  6. ground — the earth
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. clip — a video
  9. branch — of a tree
  10. clip — for paper
  11. perch — the fish
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. cell — in biology
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. cell — a phone
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. clip — to cut
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. lie — to recline
  23. ground — crushed
  24. branch — of a bank

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