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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. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Did you ________________ the meat?
  5. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  6. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  7. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  8. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. The ________________ market has crashed.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. snap — to click
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. season — to add flavour
  5. rest — what's left
  6. rest — a break
  7. prune — to trim
  8. rest — what's left
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. stock — goods
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. bat — the animal
  13. capital — a city
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. season — of the year
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. capital — money
  21. stock — shares
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. prune — to trim
  24. season — in sport

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