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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: mate · march · tear · snap · hand · cap · lie · pop

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  10. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  11. Have you found your soul ________________?
  12. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  16. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. You don't need to ________________ round.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  24. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.

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. lie — an untruth
  3. tear — from crying
  4. mate — a friend
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. march — the month
  7. march — music
  8. pop — soda
  9. tear — to rip
  10. cap — a lid
  11. mate — a partner
  12. mate — to breed
  13. pop — music
  14. hand — help
  15. lie — an untruth
  16. snap — to speak sharply
  17. hand — in cards
  18. cap — of ice
  19. march — the month
  20. pop — to visit
  21. tear — from crying
  22. snap — to click
  23. lie — to recline
  24. cap — a hat

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