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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. The King held a masked ________________.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  14. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. capital — money
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. ball — a dance
  9. row — a line
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. rest — what's left
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. rest — a break
  17. rest — what's left
  18. row — to paddle
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. ball — a great time
  21. capital — a city
  22. craft — boats
  23. craft — a skill
  24. craft — a handicraft

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