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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  9. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. The water is too ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  21. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  22. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. Spring is a pleasant ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. club — for golf
  5. bat — the animal
  6. staff — employees
  7. degree — from a university
  8. season — in sport
  9. mark — a grade
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. staff — employees
  12. degree — an amount
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. cold — an illness
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cold — not warm
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. club — a group
  21. staff — a stick
  22. mark — a trace
  23. club — for dancing
  24. season — of the year

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