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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. That was a fun ________________.
  15. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  16. The light ________________ burned out.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  19. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  20. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. game — a kind of play
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. capital — a city
  5. capital — money
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. branch — a division
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. bulb — for light
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. roll — a list
  14. game — a match
  15. temple — side of the head
  16. bulb — for light
  17. row — to paddle
  18. branch — of a bank
  19. roll — a cake
  20. game — wild animals
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. row — a line
  24. branch — of a tree

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