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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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Word bank
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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: stand · snap · cold · plane · chest · dip · capital · net

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. I can't ________________ this cold.
  19. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. cold — an illness
  3. plane — a tool
  4. dip — to sink
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — in sport
  10. cold — not warm
  11. chest — of your body
  12. stand — on your feet
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. dip — a sauce
  17. chest — of your body
  18. stand — to bear
  19. net — after costs
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. chest — a box
  24. stand — for spectators

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