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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: craft · rule · dip · capital · clip · mouse · face · ground

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  3. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  4. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  7. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  13. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  21. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. dip — to dunk
  3. craft — a skill
  4. rule — a law
  5. face — part of the head
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — for a computer
  8. ground — crushed
  9. ground — a position
  10. capital — a city
  11. clip — to cut
  12. rule — to rule out
  13. craft — boats
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. dip — to sink
  16. face — to point toward
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. clip — a video
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. face — to confront
  21. mouse — the animal
  22. ground — the earth
  23. clip — for paper
  24. rule — government

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