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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. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  22. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  23. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. cold — not warm
  4. capital — a city
  5. vault — an arched ceiling
  6. hand — in cards
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. vault — a safe
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cold — an illness
  11. march — the month
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. bore — gave birth
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. bore — to drill
  18. cell — a phone
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. cell — in biology
  21. bore — to tire
  22. vault — in gymnastics
  23. hand — help
  24. lash — an eyelash

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