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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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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: snap · straw · bay · hand · last · capital · rock · rest

  1. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. My mare is ________________ in color.
  21. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  22. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. hand — help
  3. capital — money
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. rest — what's left
  6. hand — in cards
  7. bay — to keep at bay
  8. rest — a break
  9. capital — a city
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. hand — part of the body
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. bay — a part of the sea
  14. snap — to click
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. rest — what's left
  17. last — to go on
  18. last — final
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bay — a horse colour
  21. rock — a stone
  22. straw — dry grass
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. rock — music

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