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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 124 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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  9. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  13. The ________________ went through the wall.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  23. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. game — wild animals
  3. nail — for a hammer
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. dip — to sink
  6. clip — for paper
  7. capital — money
  8. foot — the bottom
  9. foot — a measure
  10. season — of the year
  11. spell — letters
  12. game — a kind of play
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. game — a match
  16. dip — to dunk
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. spell — a short time
  19. clip — to cut
  20. season — in sport
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. foot — part of the body
  23. spell — magic
  24. clip — a video

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