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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: game · mouse · bat · present · trunk · snap · spell · capital

  1. That was a fun ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  9. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  10. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  11. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  12. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  16. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. snap — to click
  3. spell — letters
  4. snap — to speak sharply
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. spell — a short time
  7. capital — a city
  8. present — there
  9. game — wild animals
  10. capital — money
  11. trunk — of a car
  12. bat — for baseball
  13. present — a gift
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. mouse — for a computer
  16. spell — magic
  17. present — the time now
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. mouse — the animal
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. trunk — of an elephant
  22. bat — the animal
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. capital — a big letter

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