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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. Have you settled on a ________________?
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. club — a group
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. chair — a leader
  8. wound — an injury
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. capital — money
  14. wound — an injury
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. club — for dancing
  20. club — for golf
  21. date — the fruit
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. capital — a city

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