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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: wound · clip · capital · coach · file · hide · wave · mate

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  5. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  17. Have you met the new head ________________?
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. mate — a partner
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. mate — to breed
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — a city
  8. file — a document
  9. mate — a friend
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. file — a tool
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. wound — an injury
  14. file — a line of people
  15. clip — for paper
  16. coach — pulled by horses
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. capital — money
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. clip — a video
  23. wave — a sudden rise
  24. hide — to keep secret

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