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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. pit — a fruit stone
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. pit — in a race
  7. club — a group
  8. club — for dancing
  9. calf — a young animal
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. fine — high quality
  13. clip — a video
  14. wake — a trail
  15. pit — a hole
  16. capital — money
  17. cell — a phone
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. calf — of the leg
  20. fine — all right
  21. cell — in biology
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — to cut
  24. capital — a city

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