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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. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  10. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  11. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  19. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. bank — for money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. rest — what's left
  4. land — to come down
  5. capital — a city
  6. land — ground
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. snap — to click
  9. snap — to snap out of it
  10. bank — of a river
  11. bank — for money
  12. file — a line of people
  13. file — a document
  14. wake — to stop sleeping
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. file — a tool
  18. rest — a break
  19. wake — a trail
  20. rest — what's left
  21. capital — money
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. land — a country

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