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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: field · calf · capital · snap · straw · kid · mouse · face

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. ________________ 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. snap — to click
  2. mouse — the animal
  3. capital — a city
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. face — to point toward
  6. field — a subject
  7. face — part of the head
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. mouse — the animal
  12. kid — to tease
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. face — to confront
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. field — for sport
  18. mouse — for a computer
  19. capital — money
  20. kid — child
  21. straw — to clutch at straws
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. field — farmland
  24. 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