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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The water is too ________________.
  3. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  10. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  13. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  19. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  20. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. cold — not warm
  3. track — to keep track
  4. prune — to trim
  5. ball — a great time
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. prune — to trim
  10. pitch — completely
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. track — a song
  13. kick — a thrill
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. kid — to tease
  16. ball — a dance
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. pitch — a sports field
  19. pitch — a sales talk
  20. kick — with a leg
  21. cold — an illness
  22. track — a path
  23. kid — child
  24. kick — in football

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