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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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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: bore · kick · field · clip · chair · capital · trunk · land

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  19. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. clip — a video
  3. chair — a professorship
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. bore — to drill
  6. clip — to cut
  7. trunk — of an elephant
  8. capital — money
  9. kick — in football
  10. land — a country
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. clip — for paper
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. land — to come down
  15. trunk — of a tree
  16. field — for sport
  17. chair — a leader
  18. bore — to tire
  19. bore — gave birth
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. capital — a city
  22. land — ground
  23. field — a subject
  24. field — farmland

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