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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  9. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. The ________________ market has crashed.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  17. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. clip — to cut
  3. clip — a video
  4. ball — a dance
  5. ball — a great time
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. pit — in a race
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. pit — a hole
  10. capital — a city
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. stock — shares
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. lie — to recline
  17. stock — a soup base
  18. clip — for paper
  19. cold — not warm
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. stock — goods
  23. capital — money
  24. cold — an illness

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