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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: mate · clip · pound · capital · track · bay · chair · game

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  4. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  5. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  6. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  7. Have you found your soul ________________?
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  10. That was a fun ________________.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  13. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  14. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  15. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. capital — money
  3. mate — a friend
  4. bay — to keep at bay
  5. chair — to sit on
  6. game — wild animals
  7. mate — a partner
  8. clip — for paper
  9. chair — a leader
  10. game — a match
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. track — to keep track
  13. track — a path
  14. track — a song
  15. pound — for dogs
  16. clip — a video
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. clip — to cut
  19. capital — a city
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. pound — a weight
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. mate — to breed

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