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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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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: capital · clip · snap · row · fall · kick

  1. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  2. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  3. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  4. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. row — to paddle
  2. clip — for paper
  3. fall — to drop
  4. fall — the season
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. kick — in football
  7. clip — a video
  8. clip — to cut
  9. snap — to click
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. row — a line
  12. fall — to drop
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a city
  15. row — a quarrel
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. kick — with a leg

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