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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 120 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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  20. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  21. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  22. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  23. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. kid — to tease
  3. scale — size or range
  4. dip — to sink
  5. scale — in music
  6. kid — child
  7. ruler — for measuring
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — money
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  12. snap — to click
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. ruler — for measuring
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. scale — for weighing
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. ruler — a monarch
  20. wax — in the ear
  21. wax — to grow
  22. wake — before a funeral
  23. wake — a trail
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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