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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 valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The ball is in your ________________.
  5. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  14. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. object — a thing
  2. clip — a video
  3. clip — for paper
  4. court — for sport
  5. object — to protest
  6. cold — an illness
  7. capital — a city
  8. court — of a king
  9. staff — employees
  10. clip — to cut
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. capital — money
  13. staff — a stick
  14. kick — a thrill
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. kick — in football
  17. staff — employees
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. cold — not warm
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. object — an aim
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. court — of law

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