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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: pit · clip · chip · prune · court · stand · capital · root

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The ball is in your ________________.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  9. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. clip — for paper
  3. root — of a word
  4. prune — to trim
  5. court — for sport
  6. stand — to bear
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. chip — to eat
  9. root — the cause
  10. capital — a city
  11. court — of a king
  12. pit — a hole
  13. court — of law
  14. stand — for spectators
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. stand — on your feet
  17. prune — to trim
  18. pit — in a race
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. clip — to cut
  21. root — of a plant
  22. capital — money
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. chip — for betting

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