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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: rush · bay · land · clip · capital · bear · date · chair

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. That must've been a ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  8. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  9. My mare is ________________ in color.
  10. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  11. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  22. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  23. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — a leader
  4. capital — money
  5. rush — a thrill
  6. clip — to cut
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. bear — to put up with
  9. bay — a horse colour
  10. bear — the animal
  11. bear — the animal
  12. land — a country
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. date — the fruit
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. land — to come down
  17. rush — hurry
  18. land — ground
  19. clip — for paper
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. chair — to sit on
  22. bay — to keep at bay
  23. bay — a part of the sea
  24. clip — a video

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