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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. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  2. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  13. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  16. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  17. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  18. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. It's one o'clock ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — to tease
  2. ruler — for measuring
  3. ball — a great time
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. cold — not warm
  6. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  7. ball — a dance
  8. sharp — with an edge
  9. cold — an illness
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. sharp — clever
  13. ruler — a monarch
  14. content — happy
  15. kid — child
  16. bowl — a dish
  17. ball — a round shape
  18. ruler — for measuring
  19. content — the amount
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. sharp — exactly
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. bowl — a football final

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