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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  7. When will it ________________ you to start?
  8. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  9. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

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. mine — belonging to me
  3. capital — money
  4. suit — clothes
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. suit — to fit
  8. scale — for weighing
  9. chest — of your body
  10. suit — in cards
  11. capital — a city
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. scale — in music
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. root — of a plant
  17. root — of a word
  18. scale — size or range
  19. snap — to click
  20. chest — of your body
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. mine — for digging
  23. chest — a box
  24. root — the cause

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