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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. He is an ace ________________.
  7. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  8. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bulb — for light
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. suit — to fit
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. pitcher — in baseball
  7. pound — a weight
  8. clip — for paper
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. suit — in cards
  11. capital — a city
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. kid — child
  14. clip — a video
  15. clip — to cut
  16. suit — clothes
  17. snap — to snap out of it
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. bulb — of a plant
  21. kid — to tease
  22. pound — to hit hard
  23. bulb — for light
  24. capital — money

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