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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: bore · saw · capital · arm · pound · snap · last · trunk

  1. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  4. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. My father caught me by the ________________.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  14. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  17. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  18. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  21. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  22. She's very handy with a ________________.
  23. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — for dogs
  2. snap — to click
  3. bore — to tire
  4. bore — gave birth
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. saw — the tool
  9. last — to go on
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. pound — to hit hard
  15. capital — money
  16. last — finally
  17. arm — a part of something
  18. snap — to speak sharply
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. bore — to drill
  21. pound — a weight
  22. saw — the tool
  23. last — final
  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