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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  8. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. capital — money
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. bass — the fish
  5. cold — not warm
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. scale — size or range
  8. bore — gave birth
  9. capital — a city
  10. bass — low music
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. cold — an illness
  13. plane — in geometry
  14. plane — a tool
  15. squash — the sport
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. scale — in music
  19. squash — to crush
  20. snap — to click
  21. bore — to tire
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. scale — for weighing
  24. bore — to drill

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