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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. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  12. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  13. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  21. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — in cards
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. pitch — a sales talk
  4. spell — letters
  5. cold — an illness
  6. mouse — the animal
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. hand — help
  9. bark — a dog's sound
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. pitch — completely
  12. band — a rubber band
  13. bark — of a tree
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. spell — magic
  16. spell — a short time
  17. bark — to shout
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. cold — not warm
  20. band — a ring
  21. band — a music group
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. pitch — a sports field

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