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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: plane · charge · cell · capital · cold · clip · straw · wave

  1. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. He was locked up in a ________________.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cold — an illness
  3. clip — for paper
  4. wave — of the sea
  5. capital — money
  6. straw — to clutch at straws
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. charge — a price
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. charge — in control
  13. cell — a phone
  14. clip — to cut
  15. charge — electricity
  16. cell — in a prison
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. capital — a city
  19. cold — not warm
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. plane — a tool
  22. clip — a video
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. wave — with your hand

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