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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 120 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.

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: cell · bowl · bore · clip · capital · scale · last · can

  1. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  14. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. bore — to tire
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. clip — for paper
  4. last — final
  5. bowl — a dish
  6. scale — size or range
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. cell — a phone
  9. last — to go on
  10. last — finally
  11. capital — a city
  12. cell — in biology
  13. scale — for weighing
  14. bore — gave birth
  15. clip — a video
  16. can — a tin
  17. capital — money
  18. can — a tin
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. clip — to cut
  21. scale — in music
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. can — to be able to
  24. bore — to drill

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