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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 ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  3. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. branch — of a tree
  3. rash — on the skin
  4. cold — an illness
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. chest — of your body
  8. hand — help
  9. hand — in cards
  10. mug — to rob
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. rash — a series
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. mug — a cup
  16. chest — a box
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. branch — a division
  19. rash — hasty
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. chest — of your body
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. mug — a face

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