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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: cell · clip · fork · rash · bat · spring · capital · can

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. clip — a video
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. can — a tin
  7. cell — a phone
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. capital — a city
  10. bat — the animal
  11. capital — money
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. clip — to cut
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. spring — a coil
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. rash — a series
  18. cell — in biology
  19. clip — for paper
  20. can — a tin
  21. spring — the season
  22. fork — in a road
  23. rash — hasty
  24. spring — of water

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