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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 · clip · stand · march · field · mug · pit · kick

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  5. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  6. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. I can't ________________ this cold.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. march — the month
  3. field — farmland
  4. mug — a cup
  5. stand — on your feet
  6. stand — for spectators
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. field — a subject
  9. pit — a fruit stone
  10. mug — a face
  11. pit — in a race
  12. capital — a city
  13. march — the month
  14. capital — money
  15. clip — a video
  16. mug — to rob
  17. march — music
  18. kick — in football
  19. pit — a hole
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. field — for sport
  22. kick — a thrill
  23. clip — to cut
  24. stand — to bear

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