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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  6. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  14. When are we going to ________________?
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  21. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  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 — money
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. racket — for tennis
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. kid — to tease
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. snap — to click
  10. land — a country
  11. jam — to spread on bread
  12. squash — the sport
  13. jam — a tight spot
  14. land — to come down
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. bat — the animal
  17. land — ground
  18. capital — a city
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. squash — to crush
  21. jam — in traffic
  22. kid — child
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  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