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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: lie · wake · wind · capital · patient · cell · court · lash

  1. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  3. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The ball is in your ________________.
  16. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  17. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  20. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  21. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. capital — a city
  3. capital — a big letter
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wake — a trail
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. wind — moving air
  8. court — of law
  9. cell — a phone
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. lie — to recline
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. court — for sport
  16. court — of a king
  17. capital — money
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. wake — to stop sleeping
  22. cell — in biology
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. patient — a sick person

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