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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. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  2. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  3. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  4. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  7. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  11. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  16. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  17. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bowl — a dish
  2. trunk — of an elephant
  3. fan — a supporter
  4. trunk — of a car
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. wave — with your hand
  7. fan — a supporter
  8. cold — an illness
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cap — of ice
  11. pound — for dogs
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. pound — a weight
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. bowl — to roll
  16. bowl — a football final
  17. pound — to hit hard
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cap — a lid
  20. wave — a sudden rise
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. fan — to cool the air
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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