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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 120 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: field · club · capital · clip · straw · bass · snap · key

  1. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  10. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  11. This piece is in a major ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  20. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  21. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — a video
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. clip — for paper
  4. club — for dancing
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. clip — to cut
  7. capital — a city
  8. bass — low music
  9. key — the most important part
  10. key — for a lock
  11. key — in music
  12. field — a subject
  13. field — farmland
  14. club — a group
  15. field — for sport
  16. snap — to click
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. club — for golf
  20. straw — a straw man
  21. bass — the fish
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. capital — money

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