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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: cell · stand · bear · hand · saw · hide · clip · capital

  1. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  8. I can't ________________ this cold.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. She's very handy with a ________________.
  13. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  14. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. He works in a ________________ mill.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. capital — money
  3. bear — to put up with
  4. clip — for paper
  5. bear — the animal
  6. clip — to cut
  7. stand — on your feet
  8. stand — to bear
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. hand — in cards
  12. saw — the tool
  13. hide — to keep secret
  14. bear — the animal
  15. cell — a phone
  16. cell — in biology
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. saw — the tool
  21. hand — help
  22. stand — for spectators
  23. clip — a video
  24. hand — part of the body

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