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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 120 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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  6. The light ________________ burned out.
  7. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. wound — an injury
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. band — a rubber band
  6. bulb — for light
  7. pass — to spend time
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. pass — to succeed
  10. band — a ring
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. bulb — for light
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. bat — the animal
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. band — a music group
  17. capital — money
  18. wound — an injury
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. pass — a permit
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. ground — crushed
  23. ground — a position
  24. ground — the earth

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