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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Don't do anything ________________.
  8. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  14. Did you ________________ the meat?
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. cell — a phone
  3. hand — help
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. rash — hasty
  8. cell — in biology
  9. hand — in cards
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. capital — a city
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. season — in sport
  14. season — to add flavour
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. rash — a series
  18. capital — money
  19. wind — moving air
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. wind — moving air
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. season — of the year

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