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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: capital · roll · land · lash · bore · field · snap · spring

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  9. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  12. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. We're on a ________________ here.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. bore — to tire
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. roll — a list
  7. land — ground
  8. land — a country
  9. bore — to drill
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. bore — gave birth
  12. roll — a cake
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. roll — on a roll
  17. capital — a city
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. snap — to snap out of it
  20. land — to come down
  21. spring — a coil
  22. field — a subject
  23. capital — money
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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