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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 120 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: temple · last · lash · capital · rush · bat · bass · sharp

  1. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  6. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  7. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  8. That must've been a ________________.
  9. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  10. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. False peace will not ________________.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. When was this ________________ built?
  20. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. bass — the fish
  2. last — final
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. bat — the animal
  5. capital — a city
  6. temple — a place of worship
  7. bass — the instrument
  8. rush — a thrill
  9. capital — a big letter
  10. sharp — clever
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. last — to go on
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. capital — money
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. bass — low music
  18. last — finally
  19. temple — a place of worship
  20. rush — hurry
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. bat — for baseball

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