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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 potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  3. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  7. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  8. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. chip — to eat
  3. wind — moving air
  4. bat — the animal
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. rush — hurry
  7. spell — magic
  8. chip — for betting
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. wind — to turn a key
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. degree — from a university
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. wind — moving air
  16. degree — an amount
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. spell — a short time
  19. degree — temperature
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. chip — in a computer
  23. spell — letters
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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