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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: bat · rest · snap · row · capital · club · charge · file

  1. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  8. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  9. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  13. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The tickets are free of ________________.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Where can I ________________ my mobile?

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

Answer key

  1. rest — what's left
  2. capital — money
  3. rest — what's left
  4. charge — in control
  5. bat — the animal
  6. file — a tool
  7. row — a quarrel
  8. snap — to snap out of it
  9. row — a line
  10. file — a line of people
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. snap — to speak sharply
  13. club — for golf
  14. capital — a city
  15. file — a document
  16. rest — a break
  17. club — for dancing
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. snap — to click
  20. club — a group
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. charge — a price
  23. row — to paddle
  24. charge — electricity

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