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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: sharp · capital · bowl · clip · kid · mug · squash · row

  1. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  2. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  3. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  18. Where did you ________________ them?
  19. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  20. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — to cut
  2. sharp — clever
  3. squash — the vegetable
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. kid — child
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. row — a line
  11. squash — to crush
  12. clip — a video
  13. capital — a city
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. row — to paddle
  16. clip — for paper
  17. kid — to tease
  18. mug — to rob
  19. mug — a cup
  20. squash — the sport
  21. mug — a face
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. bowl — to roll
  24. capital — money

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