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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 116 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's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  4. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  5. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  15. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  24. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. staff — employees
  3. snap — to speak sharply
  4. snap — to snap out of it
  5. march — the month
  6. march — music
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. staff — a stick
  9. kid — to tease
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. march — the month
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. snap — to click
  15. pound — a weight
  16. cold — not warm
  17. kid — child
  18. staff — employees
  19. fan — to cool the air
  20. cold — an illness
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. pound — to hit hard
  24. fan — a supporter

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