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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 120 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: stock · snap · cap · capital · drill · lash · pit · chest

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  6. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  19. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. The ________________ market has crashed.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. drill — army training
  3. capital — a city
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. snap — to speak sharply
  6. cap — a hat
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. snap — to click
  9. capital — money
  10. chest — a box
  11. pit — a fruit stone
  12. drill — the tool
  13. cap — a lid
  14. chest — of your body
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. stock — a soup base
  17. pit — a hole
  18. cap — of ice
  19. chest — of your body
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. drill — a practice
  22. stock — shares
  23. pit — in a race
  24. stock — goods

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