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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  6. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. When are we going to ________________?
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  22. He is an ace ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. land — ground
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  6. kid — child
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. wind — moving air
  9. land — to come down
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. wind — moving air
  12. rock — music
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. kid — to tease
  16. rock — to move gently
  17. land — a country
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. rock — a stone
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. plane — in geometry
  22. pitcher — in baseball
  23. plane — a tool
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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