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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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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: rest · ball · cold · fan · capital · snap · mark · content

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The King held a masked ________________.
  21. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. I would like to have a ________________ here.

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. ball — a round shape
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — not warm
  7. capital — a city
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. mark — a grade
  10. ball — a great time
  11. mark — a trace
  12. capital — money
  13. snap — to click
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. content — the amount
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. content — happy
  19. cold — an illness
  20. ball — a dance
  21. rest — what's left
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. rest — a break

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