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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  13. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  14. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. lean — to bend
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. lean — to rest against
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. net — after costs
  10. tear — to rip
  11. season — in sport
  12. tear — from crying
  13. tear — from crying
  14. lean — thin
  15. cold — not warm
  16. season — of the year
  17. kid — child
  18. ground — a position
  19. ground — the earth
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — in sport
  22. kid — to tease
  23. ground — crushed
  24. cold — an illness

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