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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. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. Have you settled on a ________________?
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  7. The ________________ went through the wall.
  8. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  9. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  10. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  23. That was a fun ________________.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. date — the fruit
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. clip — for paper
  7. nail — for a hammer
  8. pitch — a sports field
  9. pitch — a sales talk
  10. clip — to cut
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. date — on the calendar
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. capital — money
  18. nail — on a finger
  19. pitch — completely
  20. clip — a video
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. game — wild animals
  23. game — a match
  24. bat — the animal

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