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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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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: lash · club · chip · cold · wind · mark · root · capital

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  19. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  20. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. mark — to pay attention
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. wind — moving air
  5. club — for dancing
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. wind — moving air
  8. capital — money
  9. mark — a trace
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. mark — a grade
  12. chip — to eat
  13. root — of a plant
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. cold — not warm
  16. root — the cause
  17. club — a group
  18. capital — a city
  19. root — of a word
  20. chip — in a computer
  21. club — for golf
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. cold — an illness
  24. chip — for betting

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