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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. False peace will not ________________.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  9. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  13. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  18. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. What do you think of the new ________________?
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. chair — to sit on
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. chair — a leader
  5. capital — a city
  6. last — to go on
  7. cell — a phone
  8. cabinet — a cupboard
  9. deal — an agreement
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. last — final
  12. cabinet — ministers
  13. last — finally
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. chair — a professorship
  18. deal — to handle
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. capital — money
  21. cell — in biology
  22. cabinet — ministers
  23. bat — the animal
  24. deal — a big deal

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