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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: temple · season · hand · rash · capital · pop · cap · lash

  1. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  4. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  5. When was this ________________ built?
  6. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. We're almost out of ________________.
  14. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  20. Did you ________________ the meat?
  21. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. cap — a hat
  2. rash — hasty
  3. pop — music
  4. season — of the year
  5. temple — a place of worship
  6. rash — on the skin
  7. season — in sport
  8. rash — a series
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. hand — in cards
  11. hand — help
  12. cap — a lid
  13. pop — soda
  14. temple — a place of worship
  15. capital — a city
  16. capital — a big letter
  17. cap — of ice
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. capital — money
  20. season — to add flavour
  21. temple — side of the head
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pop — to visit

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