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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: clip · shower · capital · file · land · firm · deal · snap

  1. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  9. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  10. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Hold the papers together with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. file — a tool
  2. land — a country
  3. firm — steady
  4. deal — to handle
  5. file — a document
  6. shower — to wash
  7. clip — a video
  8. shower — rain
  9. shower — a meteor shower
  10. snap — to click
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. firm — decided
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. firm — a company
  16. clip — to cut
  17. land — ground
  18. capital — a city
  19. file — a line of people
  20. land — to come down
  21. capital — money
  22. deal — a big deal
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. clip — for paper

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