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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. mine — for digging
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. shower — rain
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. shower — to wash
  9. mine — an explosive
  10. club — a group
  11. capital — a city
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. squash — the sport
  14. club — for golf
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. squash — to crush
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. plane — a tool
  23. club — for dancing
  24. plane — in geometry

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