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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  3. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. The ________________ took off on time.
  6. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  20. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  21. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  22. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  23. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  24. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. wake — to stop sleeping
  3. cap — a hat
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. plane — an aircraft
  6. straw — dry grass
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. calf — of the leg
  9. drill — a practice
  10. content — happy
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. drill — the tool
  13. wake — a trail
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. plane — in geometry
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. plane — a tool
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. calf — a young animal
  20. calf — a young animal
  21. content — the amount
  22. cap — a lid
  23. cap — of ice
  24. drill — army training

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