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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  18. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  22. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. sharp — with an edge
  3. clip — to cut
  4. deal — to handle
  5. suit — in cards
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. clip — a video
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. clip — for paper
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stem — to come from
  13. chest — of your body
  14. capital — a city
  15. suit — clothes
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. racket — for tennis
  18. deal — a big deal
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. stem — a stem cell
  22. chest — a box
  23. sharp — clever
  24. suit — to fit

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