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

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. That was a fun ________________.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Have you found your soul ________________?
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. ground — the earth
  3. mate — to breed
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. snap — to click
  6. capital — a city
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. game — a match
  9. mate — a friend
  10. vault — an arched ceiling
  11. clip — for paper
  12. game — wild animals
  13. row — to paddle
  14. vault — in gymnastics
  15. ground — a position
  16. clip — to cut
  17. clip — a video
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. vault — a safe
  23. mate — a partner
  24. row — a line

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