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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.

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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: content · rule · game · saw · capital · spring · clip · cue

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  5. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  6. That was a fun ________________.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  15. He works in a ________________ mill.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. spring — the season
  4. rule — to rule out
  5. content — the amount
  6. game — a match
  7. game — wild animals
  8. content — happy
  9. clip — to cut
  10. cue — for pool
  11. capital — a city
  12. clip — for paper
  13. capital — money
  14. rule — a law
  15. saw — the tool
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. cue — a hint
  18. cue — a signal
  19. spring — of water
  20. spring — a coil
  21. rule — government
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. clip — a video
  24. saw — the tool

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