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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: straw · lash · capital · rule · pop · bulb · game · cold

  1. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  2. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  3. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. I've got to change the light ________________.
  22. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  23. We're almost out of ________________.
  24. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a big letter
  2. rule — a law
  3. straw — a straw man
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bulb — for light
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. pop — music
  8. pop — to visit
  9. bulb — of a plant
  10. game — wild animals
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. rule — government
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. rule — to rule out
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. game — a match
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. bulb — for light
  22. capital — a city
  23. pop — soda
  24. capital — money

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