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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  5. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  11. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  12. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. game — wild animals
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. leaves — of a tree
  5. leaves — to go away
  6. hand — in cards
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. deal — an agreement
  9. deal — to handle
  10. chair — to sit on
  11. chair — a leader
  12. march — the month
  13. capital — a city
  14. march — music
  15. capital — money
  16. clip — for paper
  17. clip — a video
  18. hand — help
  19. game — a match
  20. clip — to cut
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. march — the month
  24. deal — a big deal

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