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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. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  4. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  7. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  13. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  18. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  19. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  20. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  21. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  22. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. He was blown up by a land ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — of ice
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. capital — money
  4. capital — a city
  5. cold — not warm
  6. board — a flat piece
  7. cap — a lid
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. scale — for weighing
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. net — in sport
  12. mine — for digging
  13. net — after costs
  14. cold — an illness
  15. net — for catching
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. scale — in music
  18. board — to get on
  19. mine — belonging to me
  20. board — a committee
  21. scale — size or range
  22. cap — a hat
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. mine — an explosive

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