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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  4. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  7. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. That was ________________ to happen.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. bound — tied together
  4. lean — to rest against
  5. row — a line
  6. vault — an arched ceiling
  7. file — a document
  8. vault — a safe
  9. season — of the year
  10. season — in sport
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. bound — certain
  13. lean — to bend
  14. clip — to cut
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. capital — money
  17. row — to paddle
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. lean — thin
  20. file — a tool
  21. clip — a video
  22. file — a line of people
  23. clip — for paper
  24. bound — obliged

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