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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 116 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. That was ________________ to happen.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. David sat on the ________________.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  23. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  24. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. bowl — a football final
  3. cold — not warm
  4. capital — a city
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. bound — certain
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. swing — to play on
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. shower — to wash
  14. bound — tied together
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. bound — obliged
  18. swing — music
  19. cold — an illness
  20. shower — rain
  21. capital — money
  22. shower — a meteor shower
  23. swing — in golf
  24. bowl — to roll

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