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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: pass · stick · chest · capital · sharp · snap · hide · row

  1. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  6. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. hide — to keep secret
  2. snap — to click
  3. row — a line
  4. pass — a permit
  5. chest — of your body
  6. sharp — with an edge
  7. row — to paddle
  8. hide — animal skin
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. pass — to succeed
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. capital — a city
  13. pass — to spend time
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. chest — a box
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. row — a quarrel
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. capital — money
  21. chest — of your body
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. sharp — clever

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