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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  8. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  9. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  10. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  11. False peace will not ________________.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  14. How do you ________________ your surname?
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  21. The ________________ took off on time.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. swing — to play on
  2. capital — a city
  3. cap — a hat
  4. bass — the instrument
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. spell — magic
  7. bass — low music
  8. swing — music
  9. plane — a tool
  10. last — finally
  11. last — to go on
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cap — a lid
  14. spell — letters
  15. last — final
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. plane — in geometry
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. cap — of ice
  21. plane — an aircraft
  22. swing — in golf
  23. bass — the fish
  24. capital — money

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