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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: pass · capital · bound · row · rush · snap · stock · content

  1. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  2. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. That must've been a ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  11. The ________________ market has crashed.
  12. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  17. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  18. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  24. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. pass — to succeed
  2. snap — to click
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. content — happy
  6. rush — a thrill
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. row — to paddle
  9. capital — money
  10. snap — to snap out of it
  11. stock — shares
  12. stock — goods
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. row — a line
  15. rush — hurry
  16. pass — a permit
  17. snap — to speak sharply
  18. bound — tied together
  19. bound — certain
  20. bound — obliged
  21. content — the amount
  22. capital — a city
  23. pass — to spend time
  24. content — videos and posts

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