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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. I seem to be developing a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. rash — hasty
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. stem — a stem cell
  5. club — for dancing
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. bass — low music
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. last — to go on
  11. capital — money
  12. last — finally
  13. cold — not warm
  14. rash — a series
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. cold — an illness
  17. last — final
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. stem — to come from
  20. club — a group
  21. stem — of a plant
  22. bass — the fish
  23. capital — a city
  24. rash — on the skin

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