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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. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. cell — a phone
  3. capital — money
  4. shower — rain
  5. capital — a city
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. row — a line
  8. mark — to pay attention
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. shower — to wash
  11. bank — for money
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. row — to paddle
  14. bank — for money
  15. mark — a trace
  16. bank — of a river
  17. cell — in biology
  18. fan — to cool the air
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. mark — a grade
  21. clip — for paper
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. clip — a video
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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