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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 120 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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  5. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  10. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  17. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. What do you think of the new ________________?
  21. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. chest — of your body
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. shower — rain
  5. prune — the fruit
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. shower — to wash
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. chest — a box
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. capital — money
  13. chest — of your body
  14. coach — pulled by horses
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. coach — a trainer
  17. prune — to trim
  18. capital — a city
  19. prune — to trim
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. cabinet — ministers
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  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