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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 116 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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  4. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  8. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  9. That was a fun ________________.
  10. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  11. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  18. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. game — wild animals
  3. prune — to trim
  4. game — a kind of play
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. prune — the fruit
  8. present — the time now
  9. game — a match
  10. pit — a fruit stone
  11. file — a tool
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. file — a document
  14. present — there
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. pit — a hole
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. prune — to trim
  20. present — a gift
  21. bat — the animal
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. pit — in a race
  24. file — a line of people

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