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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. We're almost out of ________________.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  12. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  16. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. pop — soda
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. pop — to visit
  5. capital — money
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. bulb — for light
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. race — humankind
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. race — a contest
  12. hand — help
  13. race — the arms race
  14. bat — the animal
  15. hand — part of the body
  16. bulb — of a plant
  17. capital — a city
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. pop — music
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bulb — for light
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. kick — in football
  24. hand — in cards

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