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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. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  5. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. Have you found your soul ________________?
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a music group
  2. snap — to click
  3. staff — employees
  4. staff — a stick
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. stick — a piece of wood
  8. capital — money
  9. mate — a partner
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. mate — to breed
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. staff — employees
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. capital — a city
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. band — a ring
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. mate — a friend
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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