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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. That was a fun ________________.
  3. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  4. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  5. The light ________________ burned out.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  8. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  12. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  13. I've got to change the light ________________.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  19. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. game — a match
  3. game — wild animals
  4. prune — to trim
  5. bulb — for light
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. bulb — of a plant
  8. kid — to tease
  9. spring — a coil
  10. kid — child
  11. prune — to trim
  12. race — humankind
  13. bulb — for light
  14. spring — the season
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. spring — of water
  17. race — the arms race
  18. prune — the fruit
  19. race — a contest
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. bat — for baseball
  23. bat — the animal
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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