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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. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  10. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. chair — to sit on
  2. capital — a city
  3. rush — to hurry
  4. spring — of water
  5. spring — the season
  6. file — a document
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. file — a tool
  9. chair — a professorship
  10. swing — music
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. chair — a leader
  13. file — a line of people
  14. stick — a piece of wood
  15. rush — hurry
  16. swing — to play on
  17. swing — in golf
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. capital — money
  20. spring — a coil
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. lash — to lash out

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