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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 · wake · clip · stand · last · date · present · fork

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  3. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  6. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  7. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. I can't ________________ this cold.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  18. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  19. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  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. clip — a video
  2. stand — for spectators
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. last — final
  5. last — finally
  6. fork — a garden tool
  7. wake — before a funeral
  8. capital — a city
  9. wake — a trail
  10. fork — to eat with
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. stand — to bear
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. capital — money
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. present — there
  18. present — the time now
  19. fork — in a road
  20. clip — to cut
  21. last — to go on
  22. date — the fruit
  23. present — a gift
  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