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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  8. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. When are we going to ________________?
  11. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  15. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. object — to protest
  4. cell — a phone
  5. object — an aim
  6. cell — in biology
  7. bank — for money
  8. row — to paddle
  9. land — ground
  10. land — to come down
  11. bank — of a river
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. row — a line
  14. land — a country
  15. ball — a round shape
  16. ball — a dance
  17. bank — for money
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. ball — a great time
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pitcher — a jug
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. object — a thing

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