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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 120 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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  3. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. craft — a handicraft
  3. mouse — the animal
  4. file — a tool
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. mouse — for a computer
  7. field — for sport
  8. mouse — the animal
  9. capital — money
  10. dip — a sauce
  11. field — a subject
  12. craft — a skill
  13. prune — to trim
  14. field — farmland
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. craft — boats
  17. prune — to trim
  18. dip — to sink
  19. file — a document
  20. file — a line of people
  21. capital — a city
  22. clip — for paper
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — to cut

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