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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 116 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: wound · snap · spell · capital · board · drill · mark · clip

  1. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  4. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  9. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. We had a fire ________________ at school today.

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

Answer key

  1. board — to get on
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. mark — to pay attention
  4. drill — army training
  5. spell — a short time
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. clip — a video
  8. mark — a grade
  9. wound — an injury
  10. spell — magic
  11. spell — letters
  12. board — a flat piece
  13. mark — a trace
  14. capital — a city
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. snap — to click
  17. wound — an injury
  18. board — a committee
  19. clip — for paper
  20. clip — to cut
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. capital — money
  23. drill — the tool
  24. drill — a practice

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