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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. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  4. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  5. False peace will not ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — part of the body
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. hand — help
  4. last — finally
  5. last — to go on
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. capital — a city
  8. content — happy
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. last — final
  12. hand — in cards
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. content — the amount
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. capital — money
  18. capital — a big letter

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