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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  6. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  7. David sat on the ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  19. There's no middle ________________.
  20. Don't do anything ________________.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  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 snap out of it
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. march — the month
  4. swing — in golf
  5. drill — army training
  6. ground — the earth
  7. swing — to play on
  8. capital — money
  9. swing — music
  10. drill — the tool
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. ground — crushed
  14. drill — a practice
  15. march — music
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. snap — to click
  18. march — the month
  19. ground — a position
  20. rash — hasty
  21. rash — a series
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. lash — an eyelash
  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