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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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468
Word bank
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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. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  2. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. Have you met the new head ________________?
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  18. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  19. Did you ________________ the meat?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He was locked up in a ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. coach — a trainer
  2. tear — from crying
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. coach — a trainer
  6. cell — in biology
  7. season — in sport
  8. squash — to crush
  9. stick — a piece of wood
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. stick — to attach or keep to
  14. tear — to rip
  15. cell — a phone
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. squash — the sport
  18. tear — from crying
  19. season — to add flavour
  20. cold — an illness
  21. cell — in a prison
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. season — of the year
  24. cold — not warm

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