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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 120 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. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He is an ace ________________.
  13. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  19. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.

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. race — a contest
  3. mine — an explosive
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. mine — for digging
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. cap — a lid
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — a coil
  10. cap — a hat
  11. snap — to click
  12. pitcher — in baseball
  13. cap — of ice
  14. race — humankind
  15. capital — money
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. lie — to recline
  18. lie — an untruth
  19. race — the arms race
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. lie — an untruth
  22. capital — a city
  23. spring — the season
  24. mine — belonging to me

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