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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 beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. We're almost out of ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. My mare is ________________ in color.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  19. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. pop — to visit
  3. chest — of your body
  4. clip — to cut
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pop — soda
  7. capital — a city
  8. bay — a horse colour
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. bay — to keep at bay
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. pop — music
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. clip — for paper
  15. chest — of your body
  16. capital — money
  17. ground — the earth
  18. calf — of the leg
  19. ground — crushed
  20. squash — the sport
  21. ground — a position
  22. clip — a video
  23. chest — a box
  24. squash — to crush

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