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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He was locked up in a ________________.
  7. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  14. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. rash — a series
  5. hand — help
  6. cell — in a prison
  7. rash — on the skin
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lean — to rest against
  10. hand — in cards
  11. cell — a phone
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. lean — to bend
  14. perch — the fish
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. lean — thin
  17. rash — hasty
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. perch — for a bird
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. cell — in biology
  22. pound — a weight
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pound — to hit hard

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