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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  14. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  22. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. snap — to click
  5. field — farmland
  6. scale — size or range
  7. wind — moving air
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. capital — money
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. spring — of water
  12. rest — what's left
  13. pit — a fruit stone
  14. rest — what's left
  15. spring — the season
  16. pit — in a race
  17. field — a subject
  18. pit — a hole
  19. wind — moving air
  20. spring — a coil
  21. scale — in music
  22. rest — a break
  23. field — for sport
  24. capital — a city

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