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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.

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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: craft · track · march · bat · capital · clip · nail · racket

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. The ________________ went through the wall.
  3. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  4. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  17. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  21. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  22. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  23. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. nail — for a hammer
  3. craft — boats
  4. track — to keep track
  5. capital — a city
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. bat — the animal
  8. march — the month
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. march — the month
  12. track — a song
  13. clip — a video
  14. march — music
  15. capital — money
  16. nail — on a finger
  17. craft — a skill
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. craft — a handicraft
  21. track — a path
  22. clip — for paper
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. bat — for baseball

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