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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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: ruler · kick · roll · racket · snap · cold · capital · firm

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  3. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  9. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  10. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. We're on a ________________ here.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  24. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. ruler — a monarch
  4. roll — a cake
  5. ruler — for measuring
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. firm — decided
  8. firm — a company
  9. racket — a loud noise
  10. kick — with a leg
  11. kick — in football
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. firm — steady
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. cold — not warm
  16. racket — for tennis
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. capital — a city
  19. roll — on a roll
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. cold — an illness
  22. capital — money
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. roll — a list

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