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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 116 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: straw · ball · band · pitcher · lash · hand · capital · suit

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  8. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  15. He is an ace ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  19. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  20. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. When will it ________________ you to start?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. suit — in cards
  3. hand — in cards
  4. band — a music group
  5. ball — a round shape
  6. hand — help
  7. capital — a big letter
  8. band — a rubber band
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. straw — dry grass
  11. band — a ring
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. suit — clothes
  15. pitcher — in baseball
  16. ball — a dance
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. straw — a straw man
  19. pitcher — a jug
  20. capital — money
  21. capital — a city
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. suit — to fit

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