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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 116 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 · shower · clip · mine · lie · bay · safe · pitch

  1. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. My mare is ________________ in color.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  11. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  14. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  22. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  23. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. bay — a horse colour
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. clip — a video
  5. pitch — a sports field
  6. capital — a city
  7. pitch — completely
  8. lie — an untruth
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. lie — an untruth
  11. bay — a part of the sea
  12. mine — for digging
  13. safe — out of danger
  14. lie — to recline
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. bay — to keep at bay
  18. clip — for paper
  19. capital — money
  20. clip — to cut
  21. shower — rain
  22. safe — a strongbox
  23. safe — out of danger
  24. mine — an explosive

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