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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: last · cold · capital · clip · nail · face · date · fork

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  5. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  9. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. clip — a video
  3. cold — an illness
  4. nail — on a finger
  5. fork — to eat with
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. face — part of the head
  9. face — to confront
  10. clip — for paper
  11. date — the fruit
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. last — to go on
  14. capital — money
  15. clip — to cut
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. face — to point toward
  18. last — finally
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fork — in a road
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. last — final
  24. capital — a city

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