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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Did you ________________ the meat?
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  5. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  8. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  9. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. The ________________ took off on time.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. season — to add flavour
  3. branch — a division
  4. game — wild animals
  5. deal — a big deal
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. shower — rain
  8. branch — of a tree
  9. plane — in geometry
  10. kid — child
  11. season — in sport
  12. season — of the year
  13. shower — to wash
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. game — a match
  16. plane — an aircraft
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. kid — to tease
  19. deal — to handle
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. plane — a tool
  24. shower — a meteor shower

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