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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: capital · mate · wound · arm · lean · tube · clip · pop

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We're almost out of ________________.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  10. Have you found your soul ________________?
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. My father caught me by the ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. capital — a city
  3. pop — soda
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. capital — money
  6. wound — an injury
  7. tube — a container
  8. clip — for paper
  9. arm — part of the body
  10. mate — a partner
  11. pop — to visit
  12. mate — a friend
  13. lean — thin
  14. wound — an injury
  15. lean — to bend
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. mate — to breed
  18. pop — music
  19. tube — in a tire
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. tube — the underground
  22. arm — part of the body
  23. clip — a video
  24. lean — to rest against

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