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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. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  3. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  9. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. Where did you ________________ them?
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. mug — a cup
  3. dip — to dunk
  4. capital — a city
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. bat — the animal
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. mark — a trace
  9. dip — a sauce
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. racket — a loud noise
  12. mark — a grade
  13. bass — low music
  14. racket — for tennis
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. capital — money
  19. mark — to pay attention
  20. bass — the fish
  21. mug — a face
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. mug — to rob
  24. dip — to sink

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