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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: charge · bat · firm · snap · capital · patient · clip · saw

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The tickets are free of ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  10. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  22. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. charge — a price
  3. clip — for paper
  4. firm — steady
  5. bat — the animal
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. clip — a video
  10. charge — in control
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. snap — to click
  14. clip — to cut
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. saw — the tool
  21. charge — electricity
  22. firm — decided
  23. firm — a company
  24. bat — for baseball

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