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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: pitcher · capital · calf · clip · cell · bank · prune · snap

  1. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  20. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  21. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. He is an ace ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. prune — to trim
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. snap — to click
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. cell — a phone
  9. cell — in biology
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. bank — for money
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. calf — a young animal
  14. capital — money
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. prune — the fruit
  18. clip — to cut
  19. bank — of a river
  20. prune — to trim
  21. clip — for paper
  22. clip — a video
  23. pitcher — in baseball
  24. capital — a city

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