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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  7. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  20. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a city
  3. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. wound — an injury
  6. bear — the animal
  7. kid — child
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. wound — an injury
  10. squash — to crush
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. bear — the animal
  18. capital — money
  19. squash — the sport
  20. calf — of the leg
  21. snap — to click
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. bat — the animal
  24. squash — the vegetable

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