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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: shower · stick · wake · lash · drill · deal · chest · capital

  1. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  2. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  3. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  4. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  5. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  6. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  7. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  10. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. deal — a big deal
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. deal — an agreement
  5. wake — before a funeral
  6. capital — a big letter
  7. shower — to wash
  8. capital — a city
  9. chest — of your body
  10. deal — to handle
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. drill — a practice
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. chest — a box
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. drill — army training
  20. drill — the tool
  21. wake — a trail
  22. capital — money
  23. shower — rain
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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