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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: firm · cell · net · mate · snap · board · kid · capital

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  5. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  8. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  9. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  15. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  16. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. Have you found your soul ________________?
  20. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. kid — child
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. firm — a company
  5. mate — a friend
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. board — a flat piece
  8. net — in sport
  9. board — a committee
  10. kid — to tease
  11. cell — in biology
  12. net — for catching
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  15. firm — decided
  16. firm — steady
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. board — to get on
  19. mate — a partner
  20. net — after costs
  21. capital — money
  22. snap — to click
  23. capital — a city
  24. mate — to breed

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