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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 116 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. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  2. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  14. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  18. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  21. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  22. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — a company
  2. pitch — a sales talk
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. mine — for digging
  5. track — a song
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. clip — a video
  8. firm — steady
  9. bark — to shout
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — for paper
  13. leaves — lets stay
  14. firm — decided
  15. clip — to cut
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. track — a path
  18. leaves — of a tree
  19. pitch — completely
  20. track — to keep track
  21. leaves — to go away
  22. pitch — a sports field
  23. capital — money
  24. mine — belonging to me

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