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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. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  7. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. The ________________ took off on time.
  19. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  23. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. deal — an agreement
  2. rash — hasty
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. cold — not warm
  5. kid — child
  6. plane — in geometry
  7. plane — a tool
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. deal — to handle
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. rash — on the skin
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. plane — an aircraft
  19. deal — a big deal
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. kid — to tease
  23. rash — a series
  24. lash — an eyelash

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