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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: chest · stand · stick · capital · wind · jam · snap · fine

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  8. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  9. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  10. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  13. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  18. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  19. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  20. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  21. I can't ________________ this cold.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. capital — a city
  3. chest — a box
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. fine — high quality
  8. chest — of your body
  9. snap — to speak sharply
  10. fine — all right
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. snap — to snap out of it
  13. stand — on your feet
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. wind — moving air
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. wind — moving air
  18. jam — to spread on bread
  19. stick — to attach or keep to
  20. jam — a tight spot
  21. stand — to bear
  22. chest — of your body
  23. jam — in traffic
  24. capital — money

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