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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. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  5. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  11. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  12. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  13. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. fine — high quality
  5. branch — of a bank
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. dip — to sink
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. mine — for digging
  10. mine — belonging to me
  11. fine — a penalty
  12. branch — a division
  13. wind — to turn a key
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. fine — all right
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. wound — an injury
  18. wind — moving air
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. capital — a city
  24. capital — money

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