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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 116 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 party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Did you ________________ the meat?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. Don't do anything ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. This piece is in a major ________________.
  19. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. rash — a series
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. key — the most important part
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. season — to add flavour
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. fork — in a road
  12. season — of the year
  13. rash — hasty
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. bat — the animal
  18. key — in music
  19. key — for a lock
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cell — a phone
  22. cell — in biology
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. season — in sport

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