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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.

Make a worksheet

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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. That was a fun ________________.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  9. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  14. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  19. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  22. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. game — a match
  4. wind — moving air
  5. wind — to turn a key
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. fine — high quality
  9. degree — from a university
  10. mine — for digging
  11. hand — help
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. game — wild animals
  14. hand — in cards
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. degree — an amount
  17. wind — moving air
  18. mine — an explosive
  19. scale — size or range
  20. fine — all right
  21. scale — for weighing
  22. scale — in music
  23. degree — temperature
  24. game — a kind of play

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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