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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. There's no middle ________________.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  15. Have you found your soul ________________?
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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. capital — a city
  3. ground — a position
  4. bore — to tire
  5. snap — to click
  6. ground — crushed
  7. drill — a practice
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. kick — in football
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — with a leg
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. mate — to breed
  14. drill — army training
  15. mate — a partner
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. mate — a friend
  18. drill — the tool
  19. ground — the earth
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — money
  22. band — a ring
  23. band — a music group
  24. bore — to drill

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