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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's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  5. Did you ________________ the button?
  6. Don't do anything ________________.
  7. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  20. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  21. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  22. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  23. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. kid — child
  5. press — to push
  6. rash — hasty
  7. sharp — with an edge
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. kid — to tease
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. cold — an illness
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. cold — not warm
  19. press — a publisher
  20. temple — a place of worship
  21. press — newspapers
  22. rash — a series
  23. rash — on the skin
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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