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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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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: land · clip · wave · ruler · fork · jam · object · capital

  1. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  17. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  18. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  19. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. When are we going to ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fork — a garden tool
  2. object — an aim
  3. capital — a city
  4. land — ground
  5. clip — for paper
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. ruler — a monarch
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. object — to protest
  10. clip — to cut
  11. clip — a video
  12. capital — money
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. fork — in a road
  16. ruler — for measuring
  17. jam — to spread on bread
  18. land — a country
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. object — a thing
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. land — to come down

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