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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: clip · press · capital · cold · file · dip

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Did you ________________ the button?
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. cold — an illness
  3. capital — money
  4. file — a tool
  5. capital — a city
  6. press — newspapers
  7. file — a line of people
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. clip — for paper
  10. press — a publisher
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. press — to push
  13. file — a document
  14. clip — to cut
  15. dip — to sink
  16. cold — not warm
  17. clip — a video
  18. dip — a sauce

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