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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. wave — of the sea
  4. rash — hasty
  5. pass — a permit
  6. rash — a series
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. wave — with your hand
  9. snap — to click
  10. cold — an illness
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. pass — to succeed
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. capital — a city
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. wind — moving air
  17. wind — moving air
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. capital — money
  20. cold — not warm
  21. prune — to trim
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. prune — to trim
  24. prune — the fruit

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