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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 ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  12. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  13. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  21. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  22. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  23. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. capital — money
  3. clip — for paper
  4. dip — to sink
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. clip — a video
  7. spring — of water
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. sharp — clever
  10. capital — a city
  11. rule — government
  12. craft — a handicraft
  13. dip — to dunk
  14. rule — a law
  15. clip — to cut
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. pound — a weight
  18. spring — a coil
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. craft — boats
  21. craft — a skill
  22. spring — the season
  23. rule — to rule out
  24. pound — to hit hard

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