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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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468
Word bank
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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. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  2. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  8. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.

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

Answer key

  1. fine — all right
  2. drill — the tool
  3. pit — a hole
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. pit — in a race
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. drill — army training
  8. capital — a big letter
  9. hand — in cards
  10. hand — help
  11. march — the month
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. march — music
  14. fine — a penalty
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. chip — in a computer
  17. drill — a practice
  18. march — the month
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. capital — money
  21. fine — high quality
  22. capital — a city
  23. chip — for betting
  24. chip — to eat

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