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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  3. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  4. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  5. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  6. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  10. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  13. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He works in a ________________ mill.
  22. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  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. lash — a whip stroke
  2. fall — the season
  3. snap — to click
  4. fall — to drop
  5. capital — money
  6. bear — the animal
  7. cold — an illness
  8. cold — not warm
  9. capital — a city
  10. capital — a big letter
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. fall — to drop
  13. saw — past of 'see'
  14. mate — a partner
  15. snap — to speak sharply
  16. saw — the tool
  17. bear — to put up with
  18. mate — a friend
  19. mate — to breed
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. saw — the tool
  22. bear — the animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  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