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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: snap · net · arm · land · capital · shower · bass · pop

  1. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  6. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  10. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  11. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  12. You don't need to ________________ round.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. snap — to click
  3. arm — a part of something
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. shower — to wash
  6. bass — the fish
  7. shower — rain
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. net — for catching
  10. shower — a meteor shower
  11. pop — music
  12. pop — to visit
  13. land — ground
  14. capital — money
  15. land — to come down
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. capital — a city
  18. net — after costs
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. bass — low music
  23. land — a country
  24. net — in sport

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