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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: wave · toast · trunk · mine · deal · bat · capital · lash

  1. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  11. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  12. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  13. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  14. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  15. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  23. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. trunk — of a car
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. toast — a drink to someone
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. mine — for digging
  6. bat — the animal
  7. deal — an agreement
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. capital — a city
  11. capital — a big letter
  12. deal — to handle
  13. toast — bread
  14. wave — a sudden rise
  15. trunk — of an elephant
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. mine — an explosive
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. wave — of the sea
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. wave — with your hand
  23. capital — money
  24. bat — in an idiom

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