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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: cold · spell · rush · capital · row · lash · bound · calf

  1. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  4. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  5. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  12. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. That was ________________ to happen.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  22. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.

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

Answer key

  1. rush — to hurry
  2. rush — hurry
  3. calf — of the leg
  4. spell — a short time
  5. calf — a young animal
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. row — to paddle
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. cold — an illness
  10. row — a line
  11. capital — a city
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. cold — not warm
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. spell — letters
  19. bound — certain
  20. capital — money
  21. bound — obliged
  22. spell — magic
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. bound — tied together

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