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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: spring · lash · spell · file · land · capital · leaves · race

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. How do you ________________ your surname?
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  15. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. When are we going to ________________?
  19. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  20. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.

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

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. capital — money
  3. spring — of water
  4. land — ground
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. spell — magic
  7. spell — a short time
  8. file — a line of people
  9. spring — a coil
  10. land — a country
  11. spell — letters
  12. spring — the season
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. file — a document
  15. race — the arms race
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. race — humankind
  18. land — to come down
  19. file — a tool
  20. leaves — to go away
  21. race — a contest
  22. capital — a big letter
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. leaves — lets stay

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