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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  3. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  11. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  24. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. march — music
  3. row — to paddle
  4. capital — a city
  5. hand — in cards
  6. hand — help
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. capital — money
  9. mine — for digging
  10. hand — part of the body
  11. track — a song
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bark — to shout
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. march — the month
  18. row — a line
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. track — a path
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. track — to keep track
  24. march — the month

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