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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: fan · scale · clip · capital · rash · sharp · safe · straw

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  3. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. He has no idea where the ________________ is.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. Tom was very happy that his son returned home ________________ and sound.
  11. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  12. Is it ________________ for us to be here?
  13. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. scale — size or range
  3. scale — in music
  4. capital — money
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. safe — a strongbox
  7. clip — to cut
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. safe — out of danger
  11. straw — to clutch at straws
  12. safe — out of danger
  13. fan — to cool the air
  14. clip — for paper
  15. scale — for weighing
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. rash — hasty
  19. sharp — with an edge
  20. rash — a series
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. fan — a supporter
  23. sharp — clever
  24. clip — a video

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