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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  4. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  7. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. dip — to sink
  4. fall — to drop
  5. wound — an injury
  6. pitch — completely
  7. dip — to dunk
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. clip — for paper
  10. clip — to cut
  11. fall — the season
  12. bank — for money
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. bound — tied together
  15. bound — certain
  16. capital — money
  17. fall — to drop
  18. clip — a video
  19. bank — for money
  20. wound — an injury
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. bound — obliged
  23. capital — a city
  24. bank — of a river

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