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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The ________________ took off on time.
  18. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  19. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. pitcher — a jug
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — money
  5. cold — not warm
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. plane — a tool
  8. drill — a practice
  9. band — a rubber band
  10. drill — the tool
  11. plane — in geometry
  12. cold — an illness
  13. mate — a friend
  14. snap — to click
  15. mate — a partner
  16. band — a music group
  17. plane — an aircraft
  18. drill — army training
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. band — a ring
  24. mate — to breed

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