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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  3. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  8. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. capital — a big letter
  3. present — the time now
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. cold — not warm
  6. capital — a city
  7. dip — to sink
  8. dip — a sauce
  9. capital — money
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. present — a gift
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bore — to tire
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — for sport
  16. field — farmland
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. present — there
  21. cold — an illness
  22. bore — gave birth
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bore — to drill

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