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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 120 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: bay · capital · clip · pound · track · rash · cell · mine

  1. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  6. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. My mare is ________________ in color.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. He keeps ________________ of his days.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — an explosive
  2. cell — in biology
  3. clip — to cut
  4. rash — a series
  5. pound — to hit hard
  6. bay — to keep at bay
  7. clip — for paper
  8. pound — a weight
  9. track — a song
  10. mine — for digging
  11. rash — hasty
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — money
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. cell — a phone
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. bay — a part of the sea
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. clip — a video
  21. bay — a horse colour
  22. track — a path
  23. capital — a city
  24. track — to keep track

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