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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  15. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. drill — a practice
  3. snap — to click
  4. calf — of the leg
  5. drill — army training
  6. pound — a weight
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. capital — a city
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. row — to paddle
  11. calf — a young animal
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. drill — the tool
  16. row — a line
  17. pit — in a race
  18. capital — money
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. pit — a hole
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. pound — to hit hard

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