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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 120 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: snap · rule · bore · capital · staff · bat · band · wind

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  14. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  15. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?

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. capital — a big letter
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. bore — gave birth
  6. band — a music group
  7. capital — money
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. bat — the animal
  10. staff — employees
  11. band — a ring
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. bore — to drill
  14. staff — employees
  15. rule — government
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. snap — to click
  19. capital — a city
  20. rule — a law
  21. staff — a stick
  22. rule — to rule out
  23. wind — moving air
  24. bore — to tire

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