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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. bulb — for light
  3. cap — of ice
  4. capital — a city
  5. wind — moving air
  6. wind — to turn a key
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. field — farmland
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. field — for sport
  12. bulb — for light
  13. cold — an illness
  14. wind — moving air
  15. field — a subject
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. cold — not warm
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. capital — money
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. cap — a hat
  22. cap — a lid
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. lash — to lash out

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