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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: capital · wind · march · patient · stick · mine · lash · dip

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  5. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  11. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  12. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  18. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. dip — a sauce
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. stick — a piece of wood
  5. stick — to attach or keep to
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. march — the month
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. dip — to dunk
  11. march — music
  12. capital — money
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. wind — moving air
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. dip — to sink
  18. stick — a piece of wood
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. mine — for digging
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. wind — moving air
  23. march — the month
  24. capital — a city

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