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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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  15. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. I'll be taking the ________________.
  22. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  23. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. rush — hurry
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — money
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. field — for sport
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. hand — in cards
  9. prune — the fruit
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. prune — to trim
  13. field — farmland
  14. prune — to trim
  15. tube — a container
  16. field — a subject
  17. tube — in a tire
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. craft — a handicraft
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. tube — the underground
  22. craft — boats
  23. craft — a skill
  24. hand — help

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