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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 · lash · capital · wake · date · bulb · bat · spell

  1. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. I've got to change the light ________________.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  7. Have you settled on a ________________?
  8. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. game — wild animals
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. bulb — for light
  5. spell — letters
  6. capital — a city
  7. date — on the calendar
  8. date — on the calendar
  9. spell — magic
  10. wake — a trail
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. bat — the animal
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. bulb — for light
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. bulb — of a plant
  18. spell — a short time
  19. date — the fruit
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. wake — before a funeral
  22. game — a match
  23. capital — money
  24. bat — for baseball

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