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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: rock · pop · net · snap · cold · row · suit · capital

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  4. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  5. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  8. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  18. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. When will it ________________ you to start?
  22. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. net — after costs
  3. suit — clothes
  4. net — in sport
  5. rock — a stone
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. suit — in cards
  8. rock — to move gently
  9. cold — not warm
  10. pop — soda
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. capital — a city
  14. snap — to speak sharply
  15. row — a line
  16. cold — an illness
  17. row — to paddle
  18. pop — music
  19. rock — music
  20. snap — to click
  21. suit — to fit
  22. net — for catching
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. pop — to visit

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