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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. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  12. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. snap — to snap out of it
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. capital — money
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. lean — to bend
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. mine — for digging
  10. pop — soda
  11. mine — an explosive
  12. bat — in an idiom
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. snap — to click
  15. hand — help
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. lean — thin
  19. pop — music
  20. capital — a city
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. hand — in cards
  23. bat — the animal
  24. pop — to visit

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