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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 116 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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  4. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. That was ________________ to happen.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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. capital — money
  3. ground — the earth
  4. bound — tied together
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bound — obliged
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. ground — crushed
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. race — humankind
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. race — the arms race
  13. snap — to click
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. degree — from a university
  16. degree — temperature
  17. race — a contest
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. ground — a position
  20. hand — help
  21. hand — in cards
  22. capital — a city
  23. bound — certain
  24. bat — the animal

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