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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 120 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: saw · temple · chip · march · net · kick · clip · capital

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  5. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  9. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  10. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  11. When was this ________________ built?
  12. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  13. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  14. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. He works in a ________________ mill.
  17. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  18. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  21. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. clip — for paper
  3. march — music
  4. kick — a thrill
  5. temple — side of the head
  6. net — after costs
  7. capital — money
  8. kick — in football
  9. chip — for betting
  10. net — in sport
  11. temple — a place of worship
  12. chip — in a computer
  13. chip — to eat
  14. kick — with a leg
  15. net — for catching
  16. saw — the tool
  17. temple — a place of worship
  18. clip — a video
  19. march — the month
  20. saw — past of 'see'
  21. march — the month
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. saw — the tool
  24. clip — to cut

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