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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: capital · stand · tear · lie · clip · staff · file · march

  1. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  5. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  6. I can't ________________ this cold.
  7. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  20. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — employees
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. file — a tool
  4. lie — an untruth
  5. march — music
  6. stand — to bear
  7. staff — a stick
  8. capital — a city
  9. file — a line of people
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. march — the month
  12. clip — a video
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. lie — to recline
  15. tear — to rip
  16. tear — from crying
  17. lie — an untruth
  18. clip — for paper
  19. staff — employees
  20. march — the month
  21. capital — money
  22. file — a document
  23. clip — to cut
  24. tear — from crying

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