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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 116 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: pitcher · swing · tear · ball · wound · pound · snap · capital

  1. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  4. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  5. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  6. David sat on the ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  14. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  15. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  16. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  21. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  22. The King held a masked ________________.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to click
  2. tear — from crying
  3. tear — from crying
  4. swing — in golf
  5. pound — for dogs
  6. swing — to play on
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. capital — money
  9. swing — music
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. capital — a city
  14. wound — an injury
  15. tear — to rip
  16. ball — a round shape
  17. ball — a great time
  18. pound — a weight
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. pound — to hit hard
  21. snap — to speak sharply
  22. ball — a dance
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. wound — an injury

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