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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  5. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. That was ________________ to happen.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. bound — tied together
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. bound — obliged
  5. cabinet — a cupboard
  6. capital — a city
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. field — farmland
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. capital — money
  12. clip — a video
  13. march — music
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. march — the month
  16. march — the month
  17. bound — certain
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. clip — for paper
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — for sport

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