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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  7. False peace will not ________________.
  8. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  12. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  13. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  16. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  17. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — a box
  4. last — final
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. degree — from a university
  7. last — to go on
  8. last — finally
  9. degree — temperature
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. pitch — a sales talk
  12. chest — of your body
  13. kick — in football
  14. degree — an amount
  15. pitch — completely
  16. pitch — a sports field
  17. kick — a thrill
  18. kick — with a leg

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