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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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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: pass · cold · arm · chip · bank · capital · kick · clip

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  3. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. My father caught me by the ________________.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  15. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  16. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. You can't go backstage without a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. arm — a part of something
  3. chip — in a computer
  4. capital — money
  5. bank — for money
  6. arm — part of the body
  7. bank — for money
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. chip — for betting
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. chip — to eat
  12. kick — in football
  13. cold — an illness
  14. bank — of a river
  15. pass — to succeed
  16. pass — to spend time
  17. cold — not warm
  18. clip — to cut
  19. capital — a city
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. clip — for paper
  24. pass — a permit

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