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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 · bound · capital · game · track · snap · drill · chest

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  3. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  10. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. rock — music
  3. drill — the tool
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. chest — of your body
  6. bound — certain
  7. bound — tied together
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. rock — a stone
  10. drill — army training
  11. track — a song
  12. snap — to click
  13. track — to keep track
  14. drill — a practice
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. game — wild animals
  17. capital — a city
  18. capital — money
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. track — a path
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. rock — to move gently
  24. bound — obliged

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