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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: cold · fine · clip · can · toast · arm · board · capital

  1. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  2. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  13. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  21. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — a part of something
  2. board — a committee
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. can — to be able to
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. can — a tin
  7. clip — to cut
  8. fine — all right
  9. clip — for paper
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. cold — an illness
  12. toast — the most admired
  13. can — a tin
  14. cold — not warm
  15. fine — a penalty
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. capital — money
  18. board — to get on
  19. clip — a video
  20. toast — bread
  21. board — a flat piece
  22. capital — a city
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. fine — high quality

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