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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  15. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  16. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  20. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  21. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Have you met the new head ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. prune — to trim
  3. content — the amount
  4. content — happy
  5. cold — an illness
  6. straw — a straw man
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. prune — to trim
  9. coach — a trainer
  10. cold — not warm
  11. fan — a supporter
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. calf — of the leg
  15. coach — pulled by horses
  16. content — videos and posts
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. prune — the fruit
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. fan — to cool the air
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. coach — a trainer

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