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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 116 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. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  6. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  13. That was ________________ to happen.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  16. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. The elephant has a huge ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. bound — obliged
  6. file — a line of people
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. drill — a practice
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. drill — the tool
  11. file — a tool
  12. file — a document
  13. bound — certain
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bound — tied together
  16. drill — army training
  17. capital — a city
  18. trunk — of an elephant

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