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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. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  5. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. I can't ________________ this cold.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a friend
  2. clip — a video
  3. kid — to tease
  4. stand — on your feet
  5. board — a committee
  6. mate — to breed
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. board — to get on
  11. kid — child
  12. stand — for spectators
  13. capital — money
  14. rest — what's left
  15. mate — a partner
  16. stand — to bear
  17. rest — a break
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. rest — what's left
  21. clip — for paper
  22. board — a flat piece
  23. capital — a city
  24. clip — to cut

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