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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: saw · capital · bat · clip · rush · bore · march · cap

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He works in a ________________ mill.
  7. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. capital — a city
  4. saw — the tool
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. saw — the tool
  7. bore — to tire
  8. capital — money
  9. cap — a lid
  10. clip — a video
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — to cut
  13. march — music
  14. march — the month
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. march — the month
  17. rush — hurry
  18. cap — a hat
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. cap — of ice
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. bore — to drill
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rush — to hurry

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