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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. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. David sat on the ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  20. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  21. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. clip — for paper
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. present — a gift
  5. mark — to pay attention
  6. bass — the fish
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. swing — in golf
  9. clip — to cut
  10. toast — bread
  11. toast — a drink to someone
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. present — there
  16. clip — a video
  17. swing — to play on
  18. swing — music
  19. bass — low music
  20. present — the time now
  21. mark — a grade
  22. mark — a trace
  23. capital — money
  24. toast — the most admired

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