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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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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: mate · tube · last · capital · pop · bass · game · lash

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. Have you found your soul ________________?
  5. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  6. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  7. We're almost out of ________________.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  10. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  11. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  12. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  17. False peace will not ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  22. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  23. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  24. That was a fun ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. last — finally
  3. game — wild animals
  4. mate — a partner
  5. capital — a big letter
  6. last — final
  7. pop — soda
  8. mate — to breed
  9. mate — a friend
  10. bass — low music
  11. bass — the fish
  12. capital — a city
  13. pop — to visit
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. capital — money
  17. last — to go on
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. pop — music
  20. tube — the underground
  21. tube — a container
  22. bass — the instrument
  23. tube — in a tire
  24. game — a match

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