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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ball is in your ________________.
  11. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  17. That must've been a ________________.
  18. What do you think of the new ________________?
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. clip — to cut
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. court — of law
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. capital — money
  10. court — for sport
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. last — finally
  13. game — a match
  14. rush — hurry
  15. clip — a video
  16. last — final
  17. rush — a thrill
  18. cabinet — ministers
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. cabinet — a cupboard
  21. last — to go on
  22. court — of a king
  23. clip — for paper
  24. cabinet — ministers

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