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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 120 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. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. Did you ________________ the button?
  18. The function of the ________________ is to provide the common people with facts.
  19. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  20. Manchester University ________________ is the university's academic publishing house.
  21. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — a loud noise
  2. club — for golf
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. trunk — of an elephant
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. trunk — of a tree
  10. wind — moving air
  11. club — a group
  12. wind — moving air
  13. cold — an illness
  14. snap — to click
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. press — to push
  18. press — newspapers
  19. trunk — of a car
  20. press — a publisher
  21. club — for dancing
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. cold — not warm
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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