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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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 · pop · fork · hide · clip · net · prune · bore

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  4. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  14. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. clip — to cut
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. bore — to tire
  6. bore — to drill
  7. hide — animal skin
  8. capital — money
  9. pop — to visit
  10. pop — music
  11. net — after costs
  12. net — for catching
  13. fork — a garden tool
  14. hide — to keep secret
  15. net — in sport
  16. pop — soda
  17. bore — gave birth
  18. capital — a city
  19. fork — in a road
  20. prune — to trim
  21. prune — to trim
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. clip — a video
  24. clip — for paper

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