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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · prune · cue · capital · lash · cold

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  7. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. cue — a signal
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. cue — for pool
  7. game — wild animals
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. game — a match
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. capital — money
  14. cue — a hint
  15. prune — to trim
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. cold — an illness

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