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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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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: degree · snap · chest · lash · pass · capital · plane · row

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  13. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  16. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. The ________________ took off on time.
  24. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to snap out of it
  2. pass — a permit
  3. capital — money
  4. plane — a tool
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. plane — in geometry
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. pass — to spend time
  11. chest — of your body
  12. row — to paddle
  13. degree — an amount
  14. capital — a city
  15. chest — a box
  16. degree — temperature
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. snap — to click
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. degree — from a university
  22. chest — of your body
  23. plane — an aircraft
  24. row — a line

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