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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 116 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: cap · clip · kick · capital · stand · mine

  1. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. I can't ________________ this cold.
  4. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — on your feet
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. stand — to bear
  4. mine — an explosive
  5. clip — to cut
  6. kick — in football
  7. capital — money
  8. clip — a video
  9. cap — a hat
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. cap — a lid
  14. mine — for digging
  15. capital — a city
  16. stand — for spectators
  17. cap — of ice
  18. clip — for paper

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