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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: tear · wind · snap · bulb · capital · swing · racket · rush

  1. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The light ________________ burned out.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  7. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. That must've been a ________________.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  17. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. David sat on the ________________.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. He hit the ball with his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. bulb — for light
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. rush — hurry
  6. tear — from crying
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. wind — moving air
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. tear — to rip
  11. bulb — for light
  12. rush — a thrill
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. swing — in golf
  15. wind — moving air
  16. rush — to hurry
  17. swing — music
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. swing — to play on
  20. capital — a city
  21. snap — to click
  22. tear — from crying
  23. capital — money
  24. racket — for tennis

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