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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: snap · capital · mug · bay · saw · clip · chest · fall

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. He works in a ________________ mill.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. She's very handy with a ________________.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  15. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  18. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  19. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  20. Where did you ________________ them?
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. chest — of your body
  4. saw — the tool
  5. chest — a box
  6. capital — money
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. chest — of your body
  9. clip — for paper
  10. saw — the tool
  11. snap — to click
  12. fall — to drop
  13. mug — a cup
  14. bay — to keep at bay
  15. fall — the season
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. saw — past of 'see'
  18. bay — a part of the sea
  19. mug — a face
  20. mug — to rob
  21. capital — a city
  22. clip — a video
  23. clip — to cut
  24. fall — to drop

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