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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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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: capital · hide · cold · kick · fine · clip · pop · content

  1. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. You don't need to ________________ round.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  23. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  24. Check the label for the sugar ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — a penalty
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. clip — for paper
  6. fine — all right
  7. capital — a city
  8. fine — high quality
  9. content — happy
  10. clip — a video
  11. cold — not warm
  12. capital — money
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pop — music
  15. kick — in football
  16. pop — soda
  17. hide — animal skin
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. pop — to visit
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. cold — an illness
  22. kick — with a leg
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. content — the amount

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