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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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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: firm · chair · lash · rash · spring · temple · capital · pitch

  1. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  2. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  14. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. When was this ________________ built?
  23. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. firm — decided
  2. pitch — a sports field
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. chair — a leader
  5. spring — a coil
  6. spring — the season
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. firm — steady
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. firm — a company
  12. capital — a city
  13. rash — on the skin
  14. chair — to sit on
  15. spring — of water
  16. rash — hasty
  17. rash — a series
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. pitch — completely
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. temple — a place of worship
  23. chair — a professorship
  24. capital — money

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