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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: capital · drill · court · snap · sharp · rash · wake · race

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. It's one o'clock ________________.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  7. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  13. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. sharp — exactly
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. wake — before a funeral
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. drill — army training
  7. wake — to stop sleeping
  8. rash — a series
  9. capital — money
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. court — for sport
  12. race — the arms race
  13. race — a contest
  14. sharp — clever
  15. race — humankind
  16. court — of a king
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. court — of law
  19. drill — a practice
  20. snap — to click
  21. rash — hasty
  22. wake — a trail
  23. drill — the tool
  24. capital — a city

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