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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. When will it ________________ you to start?
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's one o'clock ________________.
  13. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  17. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  18. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  19. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. suit — to fit
  3. degree — from a university
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. file — a tool
  6. tear — to rip
  7. snap — to click
  8. capital — money
  9. degree — temperature
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. sharp — clever
  12. sharp — exactly
  13. mouse — for a computer
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. tear — from crying
  16. mouse — the animal
  17. file — a line of people
  18. suit — clothes
  19. tear — from crying
  20. suit — in cards
  21. capital — a city
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. degree — an amount
  24. file — a document

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