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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. That must've been a ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. That was a fun ________________.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  7. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  8. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  16. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  19. The King held a masked ________________.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. rush — a thrill
  3. rush — hurry
  4. game — a match
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. fall — to drop
  7. cell — a phone
  8. ball — a round shape
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. cold — an illness
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. racket — for tennis
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. game — a kind of play
  16. ball — a great time
  17. fall — to drop
  18. cell — in biology
  19. ball — a dance
  20. fall — the season
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. cold — not warm
  24. lash — to lash out

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