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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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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. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  8. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. It's one o'clock ________________.
  12. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  15. That was ________________ to happen.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. bound — tied together
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bound — obliged
  4. capital — a city
  5. snap — to click
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. row — a line
  8. face — to point toward
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. sharp — clever
  11. sharp — exactly
  12. bass — the instrument
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. bass — the fish
  15. bound — certain
  16. capital — money
  17. face — part of the head
  18. bass — low music
  19. face — to confront
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. row — to paddle
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. hide — animal skin
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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