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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  8. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. My father caught me by the ________________.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  20. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  23. He was locked up in a ________________.
  24. That must've been a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. snap — to click
  3. cell — in biology
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. rush — hurry
  7. bear — to put up with
  8. ruler — for measuring
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. arm — part of the body
  13. cell — a phone
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. capital — money
  17. bear — the animal
  18. cold — an illness
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. arm — a part of something
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cell — in a prison
  24. rush — a thrill

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