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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: land · lash · snap · rush · band · capital · bulb · date

  1. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Have you settled on a ________________?
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  7. When are we going to ________________?
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  12. The light ________________ burned out.
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  20. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — a country
  2. bulb — for light
  3. date — on the calendar
  4. capital — money
  5. rush — hurry
  6. snap — to snap out of it
  7. land — to come down
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. snap — to click
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. band — a music group
  12. bulb — for light
  13. land — ground
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. date — the fruit
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. capital — a city
  20. rush — to hurry
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. band — a ring

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