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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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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: bear · wind · bat · rule · row · clip · capital · toast

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  8. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  13. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. toast — the most admired
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. clip — for paper
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. bear — the animal
  8. rule — to rule out
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. toast — bread
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rule — government
  13. clip — a video
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. row — to paddle
  16. bear — the animal
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a city
  19. row — a line
  20. clip — to cut
  21. rule — a law
  22. bat — the animal
  23. toast — a drink to someone
  24. wind — moving air

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