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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: hide · mine · wind · saw · row · pit · clip · capital

  1. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  2. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  3. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  16. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. He works in a ________________ mill.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. pit — in a race
  2. hide — animal skin
  3. saw — past of 'see'
  4. capital — a city
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. saw — the tool
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — a video
  10. row — to paddle
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — moving air
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. mine — an explosive
  16. mine — for digging
  17. pit — a hole
  18. row — a line
  19. saw — the tool
  20. clip — to cut
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. hide — to keep secret
  24. row — a quarrel

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