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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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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: capital · pit · snap · mark · clip · fall · degree · pitch

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  7. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  12. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. fall — the season
  3. snap — to click
  4. degree — temperature
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. degree — an amount
  7. mark — to pay attention
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. mark — a trace
  10. mark — a grade
  11. clip — for paper
  12. clip — a video
  13. pit — a hole
  14. clip — to cut
  15. degree — from a university
  16. fall — to drop
  17. pit — in a race
  18. fall — to drop
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. pitch — completely
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. capital — money
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. capital — a big letter

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