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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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. What do you think of the new ________________?
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. swing — in golf
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. content — happy
  7. dip — a sauce
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. cold — not warm
  11. capital — money
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. cabinet — ministers
  14. cold — an illness
  15. swing — music
  16. content — the amount
  17. bat — the animal
  18. cabinet — a cupboard
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. capital — a city
  22. dip — to sink
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. swing — to play on

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