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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 120 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. That was ________________ to happen.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  22. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — certain
  2. clip — to cut
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. capital — money
  6. capital — a city
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. wound — an injury
  10. clip — a video
  11. field — a subject
  12. wave — a sudden rise
  13. track — a path
  14. bound — tied together
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. track — to keep track
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. field — for sport
  19. clip — for paper
  20. bound — obliged
  21. wound — an injury
  22. track — a song
  23. field — farmland
  24. pitcher — a jug

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