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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: hide · snap · file · pit · mark · last · capital · bat

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  6. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  7. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  11. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  12. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  13. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  14. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. False peace will not ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. last — final
  3. mark — a grade
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. hide — animal skin
  6. pit — a hole
  7. hide — to keep secret
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. snap — to click
  10. hide — to keep secret
  11. mark — a trace
  12. file — a line of people
  13. pit — in a race
  14. pit — a fruit stone
  15. last — finally
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. bat — the animal
  18. mark — to pay attention
  19. file — a document
  20. capital — a city
  21. capital — money
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. last — to go on
  24. file — a tool

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