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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: clip · rule · deal · snap · pop · capital

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  18. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. deal — an agreement
  3. rule — government
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. snap — to click
  6. clip — to cut
  7. clip — for paper
  8. rule — a law
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. rule — to rule out
  11. capital — a city
  12. pop — music
  13. pop — soda
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. capital — money
  16. pop — to visit
  17. deal — to handle
  18. snap — to snap out of it

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