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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 120 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. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  3. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  9. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  10. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  22. Have you met the new head ________________?
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. lean — to rest against
  3. coach — pulled by horses
  4. spell — letters
  5. capital — money
  6. spell — a short time
  7. spell — magic
  8. fork — a garden tool
  9. stick — to attach or keep to
  10. coach — a trainer
  11. fall — the season
  12. capital — a city
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. lean — thin
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. lean — to bend
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fork — in a road
  21. stick — a piece of wood
  22. coach — a trainer
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. fall — to drop

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