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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: pop · bark · tear · snap · wave · bat · lie · capital

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  8. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  11. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. We're almost out of ________________.
  20. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. bat — the animal
  3. lie — an untruth
  4. capital — money
  5. pop — music
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. lie — an untruth
  8. tear — from crying
  9. pop — to visit
  10. wave — of the sea
  11. bark — a dog's sound
  12. capital — a city
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. tear — to rip
  15. tear — from crying
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. lie — to recline
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. pop — soda
  20. bark — to shout
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. snap — to click
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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