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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: capital · bark · pass · root · clip · club · press · hand

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  17. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  18. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  19. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  20. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. Did you ________________ the button?
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. pass — a permit
  3. clip — a video
  4. root — of a word
  5. clip — for paper
  6. club — for dancing
  7. hand — help
  8. club — for golf
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. root — the cause
  12. capital — a city
  13. clip — to cut
  14. pass — to spend time
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. pass — to succeed
  17. press — a publisher
  18. root — of a plant
  19. hand — in cards
  20. bark — of a tree
  21. press — newspapers
  22. press — to push
  23. club — a group
  24. bark — to shout

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