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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: ruler · capital · arm · date · snap · bat · shower · prune

  1. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. Have you settled on a ________________?
  14. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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. capital — a city
  3. ruler — for measuring
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. shower — to wash
  8. arm — part of the body
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. shower — rain
  11. prune — the fruit
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. date — on the calendar
  14. ruler — a monarch
  15. date — the fruit
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. capital — money
  18. prune — to trim
  19. prune — to trim
  20. snap — to speak sharply
  21. snap — to click
  22. bat — the animal
  23. ruler — for measuring
  24. arm — a part of something

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