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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.

Make a worksheet

Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cold · capital · mine · clip · trunk · fine · object · march

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. object — to protest
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. fine — high quality
  6. mine — for digging
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. march — music
  9. capital — money
  10. cold — an illness
  11. march — the month
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. fine — all right
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. trunk — of a car
  16. march — the month
  17. clip — to cut
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. object — an aim
  20. cold — not warm
  21. capital — a city
  22. clip — for paper
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. object — a thing

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