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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: snap · calf · kick · chip · cold · capital · board · spring

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. kick — with a leg
  3. chip — for betting
  4. snap — to click
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. kick — in football
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. chip — to eat
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. spring — a coil
  12. board — a committee
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. cold — not warm
  15. spring — of water
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. spring — the season
  18. chip — in a computer
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cold — an illness
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — money
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. board — to get on

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