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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  4. It's one o'clock ________________.
  5. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  6. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  19. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  20. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  21. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. wind — moving air
  3. branch — a division
  4. sharp — exactly
  5. pitch — completely
  6. wind — moving air
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. pitch — a sales talk
  9. file — a tool
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. sharp — with an edge
  15. mug — a face
  16. file — a document
  17. mug — to rob
  18. branch — of a tree
  19. branch — of a bank
  20. file — a line of people
  21. pitch — a sports field
  22. wound — an injury
  23. mug — a cup
  24. sharp — clever

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