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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: capital · bowl · date · craft · bat · snap · patient · squash

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  3. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  4. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Have you settled on a ________________?
  12. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  22. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  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. snap — to snap out of it
  2. squash — the sport
  3. bowl — to roll
  4. bowl — a dish
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. craft — boats
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. capital — a city
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. bat — the animal
  11. date — on the calendar
  12. squash — to crush
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. craft — a skill
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. snap — to click
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. date — the fruit
  22. squash — the vegetable
  23. capital — money
  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