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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  22. When are we going to ________________?
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. shower — a meteor shower
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. capital — money
  5. bore — to tire
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. shower — rain
  8. land — ground
  9. wake — to stop sleeping
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. hand — help
  12. shower — to wash
  13. hand — in cards
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. capital — a big letter
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. bore — to drill
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. bowl — a dish
  22. land — to come down
  23. land — a country
  24. wake — a trail

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