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

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Have you settled on a ________________?
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. spring — of water
  5. bulb — for light
  6. date — on the calendar
  7. capital — a city
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. spring — the season
  10. spring — a coil
  11. drill — army training
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. drill — a practice
  15. bulb — for light
  16. drill — the tool
  17. date — the fruit
  18. lash — an eyelash

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