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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The ________________ took off on time.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  11. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  12. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  13. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  14. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. Have you met the new head ________________?
  17. I'll be taking the ________________.
  18. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  19. The ________________ market has crashed.
  20. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. coach — pulled by horses
  3. cold — not warm
  4. plane — an aircraft
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. plane — a tool
  8. tube — a container
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. trunk — of a car
  11. trunk — of a tree
  12. tube — in a tire
  13. stock — a soup base
  14. capital — a city
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. tube — the underground
  18. capital — money
  19. stock — shares
  20. stock — goods
  21. cold — an illness
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. coach — a trainer

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