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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. When was this ________________ built?
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  19. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. sharp — clever
  4. rash — hasty
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. ground — crushed
  7. temple — side of the head
  8. cold — not warm
  9. rash — on the skin
  10. mark — a grade
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. mark — a trace
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. temple — a place of worship
  19. rash — a series
  20. cold — an illness
  21. ground — a position
  22. ground — the earth
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. lash — to lash out

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