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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: kid · dip · lash · mug · capital · bat · calf · plane

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  8. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The ________________ took off on time.
  20. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  21. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. kid — to tease
  5. mug — a face
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. calf — a young animal
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. plane — a tool
  15. bat — the animal
  16. mug — to rob
  17. kid — child
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. plane — an aircraft
  20. capital — a big letter
  21. capital — money
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. mug — a cup
  24. dip — to sink

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