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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  11. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. march — the month
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. fall — to drop
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. fall — to drop
  9. fall — the season
  10. kick — a thrill
  11. kick — in football
  12. capital — a city
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. bat — the animal
  15. march — the month
  16. capital — money
  17. march — music
  18. lash — a whip stroke

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