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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. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  19. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  20. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  23. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  24. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. capital — money
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. clip — a video
  6. present — there
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. present — a gift
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. mate — a partner
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. clip — for paper
  13. capital — a city
  14. clip — to cut
  15. snap — to click
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. kid — child
  18. snap — to snap out of it
  19. rush — hurry
  20. mate — to breed
  21. kid — to tease
  22. rush — to hurry
  23. coach — a trainer
  24. present — the time now

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