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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. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. You don't need to ________________ round.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  15. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. We're almost out of ________________.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  23. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. cell — a phone
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. pop — music
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. capital — a city
  7. pop — to visit
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. drill — a practice
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. cell — in biology
  12. plane — a tool
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. capital — money
  15. drill — army training
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. pop — soda
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. plane — in geometry
  20. wound — an injury
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. chair — a leader
  23. drill — the tool
  24. capital — a big letter

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