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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: bat · coach · capital · wave · scale · fine · clip · chip

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. Have you met the new head ________________?
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. clip — to cut
  3. coach — a trainer
  4. fine — all right
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. scale — size or range
  7. fine — high quality
  8. fine — a penalty
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. chip — for betting
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. capital — a city
  16. clip — a video
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. bat — the animal
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. chip — to eat
  21. scale — in music
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. capital — money
  24. chip — in a computer

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