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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 · nail · row · tear · swing · ground · staff · clip

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  14. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. There's no middle ________________.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. clip — a video
  3. capital — a city
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. clip — for paper
  6. staff — employees
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. tear — to rip
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. tear — from crying
  11. nail — for a hammer
  12. capital — money
  13. tear — from crying
  14. row — to paddle
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. swing — in golf
  17. ground — the earth
  18. clip — to cut
  19. row — a line
  20. ground — a position
  21. swing — to play on
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. swing — music

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