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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: racket · clip · ball · wound · date · capital · snap · leaves

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  3. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  4. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  13. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  18. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Have you settled on a ________________?
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. leaves — of a tree
  3. wound — past of 'wind'
  4. clip — a video
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. capital — money
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. clip — for paper
  9. clip — to cut
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to click
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. ball — a round shape
  14. wound — an injury
  15. ball — a great time
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. leaves — lets stay
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. ball — a dance
  20. wound — an injury
  21. date — the fruit
  22. date — on the calendar
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. racket — a loud noise

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