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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. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  5. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  8. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  9. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  21. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. march — the month
  3. march — the month
  4. object — to protest
  5. foot — a measure
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. snap — to snap out of it
  8. object — a thing
  9. club — a group
  10. capital — a city
  11. prune — to trim
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. foot — part of the body
  14. march — music
  15. foot — the bottom
  16. capital — money
  17. hand — in cards
  18. club — for golf
  19. prune — to trim
  20. object — an aim
  21. capital — a big letter
  22. hand — help
  23. club — for dancing
  24. prune — the fruit

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