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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  11. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  19. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  20. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  21. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. There's a computer ________________ on the table.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. row — a line
  3. wind — moving air
  4. chip — to eat
  5. row — to paddle
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. file — a line of people
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. file — a tool
  11. drill — army training
  12. wind — moving air
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. capital — money
  15. chip — for betting
  16. file — a document
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. trunk — of a tree
  19. row — a quarrel
  20. trunk — of a car
  21. drill — a practice
  22. capital — a city
  23. drill — the tool
  24. chip — in a computer

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