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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. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. When are we going to ________________?
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  18. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  19. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  22. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  23. She's very handy with a ________________.
  24. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.

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

Answer key

  1. pitch — completely
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. wind — moving air
  7. saw — the tool
  8. bat — the animal
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. land — to come down
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. land — ground
  15. wake — before a funeral
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. bark — of a tree
  18. saw — past of 'see'
  19. bark — to shout
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. pitch — a sales talk
  22. land — a country
  23. saw — the tool
  24. wake — a trail

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