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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 · bat · pop · wound · cap · dip · clip · hide

  1. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. We have nothing to ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — to dunk
  2. pop — to visit
  3. clip — a video
  4. dip — a sauce
  5. wound — an injury
  6. cap — of ice
  7. cap — a hat
  8. capital — a city
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. pop — music
  11. clip — for paper
  12. hide — animal skin
  13. cap — a lid
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. clip — to cut
  18. bat — the animal
  19. pop — soda
  20. capital — money
  21. dip — to sink
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. wound — an injury
  24. hide — to keep secret

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