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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. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  5. My father caught me by the ________________.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. Have you met the new head ________________?
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. fork — a garden tool
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. fork — in a road
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. toast — bread
  7. arm — part of the body
  8. cold — an illness
  9. row — a quarrel
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. coach — a trainer
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. fork — to eat with
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. cold — not warm
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. row — to paddle
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. row — a line
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. arm — a part of something

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