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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. I can't ________________ this cold.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  4. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  5. I've got to change the light ________________.
  6. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  14. False peace will not ________________.
  15. The light ________________ burned out.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  22. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  23. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. stand — to bear
  2. last — final
  3. degree — from a university
  4. stand — for spectators
  5. bulb — for light
  6. bulb — of a plant
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. snap — to speak sharply
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. wound — an injury
  13. wound — an injury
  14. last — to go on
  15. bulb — for light
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. last — finally
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. degree — temperature
  21. stand — on your feet
  22. snap — to click
  23. degree — an amount
  24. bat — the animal

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