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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. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  16. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  17. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. The ________________ went through the wall.
  20. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  21. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. This knife is not ________________ enough.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — before a funeral
  2. clip — for paper
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. clip — a video
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. wake — a trail
  8. capital — money
  9. clip — to cut
  10. scale — in music
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bear — the animal
  15. bear — the animal
  16. pitch — a sales talk
  17. wake — to stop sleeping
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. scale — size or range
  21. pitch — completely
  22. capital — a city
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. sharp — with an edge

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