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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 124 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. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  5. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tear — from crying
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. content — the amount
  5. firm — decided
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. plane — a tool
  8. wind — to turn a key
  9. capital — money
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — an injury
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. wound — past of 'wind'
  14. content — happy
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. firm — steady
  17. tear — from crying
  18. tear — to rip
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. firm — a company
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. wind — moving air
  23. wind — moving air
  24. capital — a city

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