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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 116 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: plane · shower · bore · stand · mate · capital · clip · vault

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I can't ________________ this cold.
  5. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  11. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  16. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  17. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  18. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. capital — money
  4. stand — to bear
  5. clip — to cut
  6. bore — to drill
  7. plane — a tool
  8. vault — a safe
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. stand — on your feet
  11. bore — to tire
  12. mate — to breed
  13. vault — in gymnastics
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — for paper
  16. plane — in geometry
  17. stand — for spectators
  18. shower — to wash
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. vault — an arched ceiling
  22. shower — rain
  23. mate — a friend
  24. mate — a partner

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