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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 · march · tube · charge · field · saw · clip · mark

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  10. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  11. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  14. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  20. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. clip — a video
  3. mark — a trace
  4. field — a subject
  5. field — for sport
  6. tube — a container
  7. march — music
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. march — the month
  10. mark — to pay attention
  11. charge — in control
  12. field — farmland
  13. tube — in a tire
  14. charge — electricity
  15. clip — to cut
  16. capital — money
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. march — the month
  20. mark — a grade
  21. clip — for paper
  22. charge — a price
  23. saw — the tool
  24. saw — the tool

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