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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: face · pitch · capital · bat · rash · snap · bound · club

  1. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. That was ________________ to happen.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. Don't do anything ________________.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. She had a strange look on her ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. club — for golf
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. face — to confront
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. bound — obliged
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bound — certain
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. snap — to click
  12. rash — a series
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bat — the animal
  15. capital — a city
  16. pitch — completely
  17. club — for dancing
  18. rash — hasty
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. bound — tied together
  21. club — a group
  22. face — to point toward
  23. capital — money
  24. face — part of the head

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