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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: snap · leaves · clip · capital · pit · temple · land · branch

  1. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  6. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  11. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  15. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  16. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. When was this ________________ built?
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.

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

Answer key

  1. clip — for paper
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. leaves — lets stay
  4. capital — a city
  5. pit — a hole
  6. land — a country
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. clip — a video
  11. branch — a division
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. leaves — of a tree
  15. snap — to click
  16. leaves — to go away
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. land — to come down
  20. land — ground
  21. clip — to cut
  22. snap — to speak sharply
  23. capital — money
  24. pit — in a race

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