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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 116 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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Word bank
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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  9. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  10. There's no middle ________________.
  11. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  12. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  15. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  23. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. ground — crushed
  3. cold — an illness
  4. snap — to click
  5. net — for catching
  6. chair — a leader
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. kick — with a leg
  9. ground — the earth
  10. ground — a position
  11. chair — to sit on
  12. degree — temperature
  13. degree — from a university
  14. snap — to snap out of it
  15. net — in sport
  16. degree — an amount
  17. net — after costs
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. kick — in football
  22. chair — a professorship
  23. snap — to speak sharply
  24. cold — not warm

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