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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: shower · row · capital · squash · lash · firm · fan · fine

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  15. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  16. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  17. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  18. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  22. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  23. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  24. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. firm — steady
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. shower — rain
  7. squash — the vegetable
  8. capital — a city
  9. capital — money
  10. row — to paddle
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. fine — high quality
  15. squash — the sport
  16. fine — all right
  17. fan — to cool the air
  18. firm — decided
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. squash — to crush
  22. shower — to wash
  23. row — a line
  24. firm — a company

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