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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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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: ball · deal · capital · fork · straw · clip · mate · drill

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  4. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  5. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  20. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  21. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  22. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. fork — a garden tool
  4. clip — to cut
  5. fork — in a road
  6. capital — money
  7. ball — a dance
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. mate — a partner
  10. deal — a big deal
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. straw — a straw man
  15. clip — for paper
  16. deal — to handle
  17. drill — a practice
  18. capital — a city
  19. mate — a friend
  20. drill — army training
  21. mate — to breed
  22. ball — a great time
  23. clip — a video
  24. drill — the tool

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