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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 · bass · ground · cold · snap · capital · bay · ball

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  4. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  12. My mare is ________________ in color.
  13. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  14. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. The King held a masked ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  21. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. capital — a city
  4. capital — a big letter
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. ground — a position
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. cold — not warm
  10. ground — the earth
  11. bay — to keep at bay
  12. bay — a horse colour
  13. bass — the fish
  14. bay — a part of the sea
  15. cold — an illness
  16. capital — money
  17. ground — crushed
  18. ball — a dance
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. ball — a great time
  21. snap — to click
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. bass — low music
  24. ball — a round shape

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