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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: kick · vault · clip · capital · mate · march

  1. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  6. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  7. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  8. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  13. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  16. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  17. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  18. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — with a leg
  2. capital — a city
  3. kick — in football
  4. mate — a partner
  5. vault — a safe
  6. mate — to breed
  7. clip — to cut
  8. march — music
  9. capital — money
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. mate — a friend
  12. kick — a thrill
  13. clip — for paper
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. clip — a video
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. vault — in gymnastics

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