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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: chest · spring · lash · bat · capital · fork · cue · plane

  1. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  3. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  4. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. The ________________ took off on time.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  16. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. cue — a signal
  3. cue — for pool
  4. fork — a garden tool
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. spring — of water
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. capital — a city
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. plane — an aircraft
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. plane — a tool
  14. spring — the season
  15. cue — a hint
  16. chest — of your body
  17. chest — a box
  18. spring — a coil
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. fork — in a road
  22. capital — money
  23. chest — of your body
  24. capital — a big letter

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