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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: racket · spring · tube · capital · branch · land · field · lash

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I'll be taking the ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  16. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  17. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  18. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. When are we going to ________________?
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. spring — of water
  3. land — ground
  4. field — for sport
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. tube — the underground
  7. spring — the season
  8. capital — money
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. racket — a loud noise
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. spring — a coil
  13. branch — of a bank
  14. land — a country
  15. tube — in a tire
  16. capital — a city
  17. branch — a division
  18. tube — a container
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. racket — for tennis
  22. field — farmland
  23. land — to come down
  24. field — a subject

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