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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: season · staff · mate · land · capital · scale · clip · key

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. This piece is in a major ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  19. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. land — ground
  3. scale — in music
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. staff — employees
  6. key — in music
  7. capital — a city
  8. mate — a friend
  9. scale — size or range
  10. season — of the year
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. mate — to breed
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. staff — a stick
  15. clip — for paper
  16. key — for a lock
  17. mate — a partner
  18. staff — employees
  19. clip — to cut
  20. land — to come down
  21. key — the most important part
  22. capital — money
  23. clip — a video
  24. season — in sport

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