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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. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  4. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  21. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  22. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  23. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  24. We're on a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. band — a ring
  3. roll — a cake
  4. current — of water
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. drill — the tool
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. mouse — the animal
  11. capital — a city
  12. drill — army training
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. mouse — for a computer
  15. stock — shares
  16. stock — goods
  17. band — a music group
  18. roll — a list
  19. drill — a practice
  20. stock — a soup base
  21. current — electric
  22. mouse — the animal
  23. current — happening now
  24. roll — on a roll

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