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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. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  10. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  11. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. field — a subject
  3. club — for dancing
  4. can — to be able to
  5. bound — obliged
  6. clip — to cut
  7. firm — decided
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. firm — a company
  10. club — for golf
  11. firm — steady
  12. field — farmland
  13. bound — tied together
  14. capital — a city
  15. can — a tin
  16. can — a tin
  17. capital — money
  18. bound — certain
  19. field — for sport
  20. clip — for paper
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. clip — a video
  23. club — a group
  24. wave — of the sea

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