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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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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: bound · capital · hand · wave · stock · net · clip · bore

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  8. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. That was ________________ to happen.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  23. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  24. What was your ________________ profit last year?

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. bore — gave birth
  3. hand — help
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bound — obliged
  7. wave — of the sea
  8. hand — part of the body
  9. net — for catching
  10. clip — to cut
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — a soup base
  13. bound — tied together
  14. bound — certain
  15. net — in sport
  16. hand — in cards
  17. bore — to drill
  18. capital — a city
  19. capital — money
  20. wave — with your hand
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. stock — goods
  23. bore — to tire
  24. net — after costs

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