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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: game · board · fall · clip · roll · rush · snap · capital

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. That must've been a ________________.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. game — a match
  3. capital — money
  4. fall — to drop
  5. roll — a list
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. roll — a cake
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. clip — for paper
  12. rush — hurry
  13. fall — the season
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. rush — a thrill
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. capital — a city
  18. clip — to cut
  19. clip — a video
  20. game — wild animals
  21. snap — to click
  22. board — a committee
  23. fall — to drop
  24. game — a kind of play

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