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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: vault · row · mate · snap · capital · clip

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Have you found your soul ________________?
  3. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  4. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  5. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  17. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. mate — a partner
  3. clip — a video
  4. vault — in gymnastics
  5. clip — for paper
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. vault — an arched ceiling
  8. clip — to cut
  9. mate — to breed
  10. capital — money
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. mate — a friend
  13. row — to paddle
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. snap — to click
  16. vault — a safe
  17. row — a line
  18. row — a quarrel

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