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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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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: cell · clip · track · hide · press · kid · fall · capital

  1. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  8. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  9. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  21. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  22. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  23. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  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. hide — to keep secret
  2. capital — money
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. clip — a video
  5. fall — the season
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. press — newspapers
  8. press — a publisher
  9. hide — to keep secret
  10. capital — a city
  11. kid — to tease
  12. track — a song
  13. cell — in biology
  14. kid — child
  15. fall — to drop
  16. track — a path
  17. press — to push
  18. track — to keep track
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. clip — for paper
  21. hide — animal skin
  22. cell — a phone
  23. fall — to drop
  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