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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 124 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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. The ________________ went through the wall.
  15. We're on a ________________ here.
  16. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. roll — a cake
  3. game — a match
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. roll — a list
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. game — a kind of play
  11. capital — a city
  12. fine — all right
  13. game — wild animals
  14. nail — for a hammer
  15. roll — on a roll
  16. bark — a dog's sound
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bark — to shout
  19. capital — money
  20. wind — moving air
  21. fine — high quality
  22. fine — a penalty
  23. wind — moving air
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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