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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 speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  9. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  10. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  11. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  14. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — a trail
  2. kid — to tease
  3. capital — money
  4. wake — to stop sleeping
  5. capital — a city
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. cap — a hat
  9. fine — all right
  10. fine — a penalty
  11. cap — a lid
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. straw — dry grass
  14. cap — of ice
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. kid — child
  17. fine — high quality
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. rash — hasty
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. rash — a series
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. straw — a straw man

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