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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: shower · race · lash · spell · fine · bass · coach · capital

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  6. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  9. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  12. How do you ________________ your surname?
  13. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  14. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  19. Have you met the new head ________________?
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. capital — a city
  4. fine — all right
  5. fine — high quality
  6. shower — to wash
  7. spell — a short time
  8. coach — a trainer
  9. spell — magic
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. coach — pulled by horses
  12. spell — letters
  13. bass — low music
  14. race — the arms race
  15. shower — rain
  16. shower — a meteor shower
  17. capital — money
  18. race — humankind
  19. coach — a trainer
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. fine — a penalty
  22. bass — the fish
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. race — a contest

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