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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: clip · net · ground · wake · wound · charge · capital · mate

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  4. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  16. There's no middle ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wake — to stop sleeping
  4. charge — electricity
  5. wound — an injury
  6. charge — a price
  7. mate — to breed
  8. ground — the earth
  9. wake — a trail
  10. net — after costs
  11. clip — to cut
  12. clip — for paper
  13. net — in sport
  14. clip — a video
  15. wound — an injury
  16. ground — a position
  17. mate — a friend
  18. charge — in control
  19. mate — a partner
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. ground — crushed
  22. capital — money
  23. net — for catching
  24. capital — a big letter

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