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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. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  15. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  24. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?

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. rush — to hurry
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. capital — a city
  5. snap — to click
  6. fan — a supporter
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. fan — to cool the air
  9. rush — hurry
  10. degree — from a university
  11. capital — money
  12. march — the month
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. bore — to drill
  15. bore — to tire
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. degree — temperature
  19. march — music
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. straw — dry grass
  22. march — the month
  23. fan — a supporter
  24. degree — an amount

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