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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: spell · lash · bat · race · cell · roll · capital · root

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  9. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We're on a ________________ here.
  18. How do you ________________ your surname?
  19. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Beijing is the ________________ of China.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. race — a contest
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. root — of a word
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bat — the animal
  7. spell — magic
  8. roll — a cake
  9. race — the arms race
  10. spell — a short time
  11. root — of a plant
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. root — the cause
  15. roll — a list
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. roll — on a roll
  18. spell — letters
  19. capital — a big letter
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. cell — in biology
  22. race — humankind
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  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