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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: mate · file · firm · capital · cell · scale · club · clip

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  12. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  13. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  16. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  20. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. clip — a video
  3. firm — a company
  4. mate — a partner
  5. clip — to cut
  6. mate — to breed
  7. capital — a city
  8. clip — for paper
  9. firm — decided
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. club — for golf
  12. firm — steady
  13. file — a tool
  14. file — a document
  15. club — for dancing
  16. file — a line of people
  17. scale — in music
  18. mate — a friend
  19. club — a group
  20. scale — for weighing
  21. capital — money
  22. cell — in biology
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. scale — size or range

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