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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  9. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  16. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  21. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. chair — a leader
  5. capital — a city
  6. present — a gift
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. hide — to keep secret
  9. kid — child
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. kid — to tease
  12. chair — to sit on
  13. capital — money
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. present — there
  16. chair — a professorship
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. row — a line
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. hide — animal skin
  21. present — the time now
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. lash — an eyelash

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