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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: mark · snap · content · cap · bat · rest · prune · hand

  1. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  2. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  3. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  10. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  21. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a lid
  2. mark — a grade
  3. bat — the animal
  4. mark — a trace
  5. hand — in cards
  6. rest — what's left
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. hand — help
  10. prune — to trim
  11. cap — of ice
  12. snap — to click
  13. rest — a break
  14. content — the amount
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. prune — to trim
  19. content — happy
  20. mark — to pay attention
  21. rest — what's left
  22. cap — a hat
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. bat — for baseball

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