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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 116 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: wind · capital · ground · swing · tear · stick · lash · cell

  1. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. David sat on the ________________.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  14. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — a phone
  2. wind — moving air
  3. swing — to play on
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. ground — a position
  8. capital — a city
  9. ground — crushed
  10. ground — the earth
  11. swing — in golf
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. capital — money
  14. tear — from crying
  15. swing — music
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. cell — in biology
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. tear — to rip
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. tear — from crying
  24. wind — moving air

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