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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. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  8. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — help
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bound — obliged
  6. wind — moving air
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. perch — the fish
  9. pop — soda
  10. bound — tied together
  11. capital — money
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. pop — music
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. fine — high quality
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. hand — in cards
  19. bound — certain
  20. fine — all right
  21. capital — a city
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. perch — for a bird
  24. pop — to visit

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