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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. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  16. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  17. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  20. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?

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

Answer key

  1. game — a kind of play
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cold — not warm
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. swing — in golf
  7. cold — an illness
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. kid — to tease
  12. kid — child
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. game — wild animals
  15. jam — a tight spot
  16. swing — music
  17. straw — to clutch at straws
  18. game — a match
  19. jam — to spread on bread
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. jam — in traffic
  23. swing — to play on
  24. hide — to keep secret

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