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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: hand · bass · capital · rush · rash · trunk · snap · leaves

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Don't do anything ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  12. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  19. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  20. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  21. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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. bass — low music
  3. rush — hurry
  4. leaves — to go away
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — help
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rash — hasty
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. capital — a city
  11. trunk — of an elephant
  12. leaves — of a tree
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. leaves — lets stay
  16. rash — a series
  17. capital — money
  18. rash — on the skin
  19. rush — to hurry
  20. bass — the fish
  21. trunk — of a tree
  22. snap — to click
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. hand — in cards

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