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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. racket — a loud noise
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. racket — for tennis
  7. capital — a city
  8. wave — of the sea
  9. capital — money
  10. wave — with your hand
  11. field — a subject
  12. cold — an illness
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. field — farmland
  15. field — for sport
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. wave — a sudden rise
  18. cold — the Cold War

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