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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. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  4. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  12. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  18. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. rule — a law
  2. row — to paddle
  3. rule — government
  4. pound — a weight
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. scale — for weighing
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. wound — an injury
  9. squash — the vegetable
  10. squash — to crush
  11. row — a line
  12. squash — the sport
  13. wound — an injury
  14. snap — to click
  15. scale — in music
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. rule — to rule out
  18. pound — to hit hard
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a city
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. scale — size or range
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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