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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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  19. He is an ace ________________.
  20. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  21. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The flowers bloom in the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. pop — to visit
  3. spring — a coil
  4. capital — money
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. pop — soda
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. file — a line of people
  10. spring — of water
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. arm — a part of something
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. last — finally
  15. file — a tool
  16. file — a document
  17. last — to go on
  18. arm — part of the body
  19. pitcher — in baseball
  20. last — final
  21. pop — music
  22. capital — a city
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. spring — the season

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