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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: net · mate · clip · capital · pound · charge · cap · prune

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. The tickets are free of ________________.
  11. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. prune — to trim
  3. net — after costs
  4. pound — a weight
  5. clip — a video
  6. charge — electricity
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. charge — in control
  9. clip — to cut
  10. charge — a price
  11. cap — a hat
  12. prune — to trim
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. mate — a partner
  15. cap — of ice
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. cap — a lid
  18. mate — a friend
  19. pound — for dogs
  20. capital — money
  21. net — in sport
  22. mate — to breed
  23. net — for catching
  24. capital — a city

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