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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.

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 · capital · spring · tube · calf · clip · mark · file

  1. I'll be taking the ________________.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  4. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  5. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. He was locked up in a ________________.
  23. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. tube — the underground
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. mark — a trace
  4. file — a document
  5. spring — of water
  6. tube — a container
  7. spring — the season
  8. cell — a phone
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. capital — a city
  11. clip — to cut
  12. file — a tool
  13. file — a line of people
  14. clip — for paper
  15. capital — money
  16. mark — a grade
  17. cell — in biology
  18. spring — a coil
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. clip — a video
  22. cell — in a prison
  23. calf — of the leg
  24. capital — a big letter

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