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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: bulb · wind · capital · kick · clip · track · stand · file

  1. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  4. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. I've got to change the light ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I can't ________________ this cold.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. bulb — of a plant
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. file — a line of people
  4. kick — in football
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bulb — for light
  7. clip — for paper
  8. track — to keep track
  9. track — a song
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. stand — to bear
  14. wind — moving air
  15. file — a tool
  16. bulb — for light
  17. capital — money
  18. stand — on your feet
  19. file — a document
  20. stand — for spectators
  21. clip — a video
  22. track — a path
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — to turn a key

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