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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 116 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: staff · clip · capital · ball · nail · game · stock · fork

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  4. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  13. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The ________________ went through the wall.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — money
  3. fork — to eat with
  4. stock — a soup base
  5. staff — employees
  6. clip — for paper
  7. stock — goods
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. stock — shares
  10. ball — a round shape
  11. fork — in a road
  12. staff — a stick
  13. nail — on a finger
  14. ball — a dance
  15. ball — a great time
  16. nail — for a hammer
  17. game — a match
  18. clip — to cut
  19. staff — employees
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. capital — a city
  22. game — wild animals
  23. clip — a video
  24. fork — a garden tool

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