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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 120 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: spring · mouse · wave · temple · cold · lash · tube · capital

  1. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  2. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  3. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  13. I'll be taking the ________________.
  14. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. When was this ________________ built?
  17. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  24. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.

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

Answer key

  1. temple — side of the head
  2. tube — a container
  3. tube — in a tire
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. spring — of water
  7. cold — an illness
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. mouse — the animal
  10. cold — not warm
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. capital — a big letter
  13. tube — the underground
  14. wave — with your hand
  15. capital — money
  16. temple — a place of worship
  17. capital — a city
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. spring — the season
  21. mouse — for a computer
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. mouse — the animal
  24. spring — a coil

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