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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. False peace will not ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  22. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  23. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  24. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. hand — in cards
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. capital — money
  5. wound — an injury
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. rash — on the skin
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. capital — a city
  12. squash — to crush
  13. rash — a series
  14. snap — to click
  15. fork — in a road
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. last — final
  19. last — to go on
  20. rash — hasty
  21. last — finally
  22. wound — an injury
  23. squash — the sport
  24. fork — to eat with

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