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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  18. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  19. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  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. lash — an eyelash
  2. capital — money
  3. net — in sport
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. clip — a video
  7. clip — for paper
  8. clip — to cut
  9. capital — a city
  10. tube — the underground
  11. net — after costs
  12. degree — an amount
  13. pitch — a sales talk
  14. sharp — clever
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. pitch — completely
  18. capital — a big letter
  19. tube — a container
  20. net — for catching
  21. degree — temperature
  22. degree — from a university
  23. sharp — exactly
  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