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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 120 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: pit · mate · saw · capital · sharp · snap · bowl · chest

  1. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  6. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  10. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  13. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  14. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  15. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. She's very handy with a ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. bowl — a dish
  3. pit — a hole
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. bowl — a football final
  6. pit — a fruit stone
  7. saw — the tool
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. chest — a box
  10. mate — a friend
  11. sharp — clever
  12. bowl — to roll
  13. mate — to breed
  14. pit — in a race
  15. capital — a big letter
  16. capital — money
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. chest — of your body
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. chest — of your body
  21. saw — the tool
  22. capital — a city
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. snap — to click

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