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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. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. What do you think of the new ________________?
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  14. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — a cupboard
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cabinet — ministers
  4. bat — the animal
  5. capital — money
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bulb — for light
  8. clip — to cut
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. bulb — for light
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. bulb — of a plant
  14. clip — for paper
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. dip — to sink
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. branch — a division
  19. dip — a sauce
  20. clip — a video
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. bat — in an idiom
  24. capital — a city

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