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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: capital · hand · clip · bowl · chest · date · ruler · fork

  1. Have you settled on a ________________?
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  4. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  10. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  11. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  12. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  22. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. date — on the calendar
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. fork — to eat with
  5. hand — help
  6. clip — a video
  7. chest — of your body
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. date — the fruit
  11. ruler — a monarch
  12. clip — to cut
  13. fork — in a road
  14. hand — in cards
  15. capital — a city
  16. chest — a box
  17. bowl — a dish
  18. capital — money
  19. ruler — for measuring
  20. clip — for paper
  21. bowl — to roll
  22. fork — a garden tool
  23. chest — of your body
  24. hand — part of the body

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