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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  14. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  17. There's no middle ________________.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  21. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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 — a whip stroke
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. mine — for digging
  5. capital — money
  6. rock — to move gently
  7. ground — crushed
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. ground — the earth
  10. wound — an injury
  11. snap — to click
  12. shower — to wash
  13. rock — a stone
  14. shower — a meteor shower
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. mine — belonging to me
  17. ground — a position
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. rock — music
  21. wound — an injury
  22. shower — rain
  23. capital — a city
  24. lash — to lash out

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