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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 124 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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  8. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  11. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  12. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. The ________________ market has crashed.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  19. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. What's the difference between broth and ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. hand — help
  3. degree — an amount
  4. suit — in cards
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. capital — a city
  8. fall — to drop
  9. degree — from a university
  10. bowl — a football final
  11. fall — to drop
  12. hand — part of the body
  13. suit — clothes
  14. hand — in cards
  15. stock — shares
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. stock — goods
  18. degree — temperature
  19. bowl — to roll
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. capital — money
  23. suit — to fit
  24. stock — a soup base

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