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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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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: content · race · coach · bulb · capital · craft · file · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. The light ________________ burned out.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  12. Have you met the new head ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. craft — boats
  4. bulb — for light
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. race — the arms race
  7. file — a tool
  8. craft — a skill
  9. content — happy
  10. clip — for paper
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. coach — a trainer
  13. capital — a city
  14. race — humankind
  15. bulb — of a plant
  16. bulb — for light
  17. file — a document
  18. capital — money
  19. clip — to cut
  20. content — the amount
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. race — a contest
  23. file — a line of people
  24. coach — pulled by horses

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