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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  5. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  6. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  10. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  13. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  17. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  18. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  22. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. cold — not warm
  4. mark — a trace
  5. rest — what's left
  6. wave — of the sea
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. hand — part of the body
  10. shower — rain
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. shower — to wash
  13. rest — what's left
  14. hand — help
  15. hand — in cards
  16. wave — a sudden rise
  17. rest — a break
  18. mark — a grade
  19. file — a document
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. wave — with your hand
  22. mark — to pay attention
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

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