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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  7. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  8. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. cold — an illness
  3. clip — to cut
  4. cold — not warm
  5. track — a song
  6. track — to keep track
  7. rest — a break
  8. can — a tin
  9. net — in sport
  10. wake — a trail
  11. rest — what's left
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. net — for catching
  14. can — a tin
  15. rest — what's left
  16. capital — a city
  17. clip — for paper
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. clip — a video
  20. net — after costs
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. can — to be able to
  24. track — a path

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