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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  8. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  9. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  22. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. root — of a word
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. snap — to speak sharply
  8. wind — moving air
  9. root — of a plant
  10. face — part of the head
  11. wind — moving air
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. face — to point toward
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. snap — to click
  18. face — to confront
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. kid — child
  21. arm — a part of something
  22. root — the cause
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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