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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  7. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  8. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  9. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  10. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  11. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  12. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  13. My father caught me by the ________________.
  14. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  18. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  21. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. game — a match
  3. band — a ring
  4. face — to confront
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. wound — an injury
  7. degree — an amount
  8. arm — a part of something
  9. face — part of the head
  10. degree — temperature
  11. face — to point toward
  12. root — of a word
  13. arm — part of the body
  14. game — wild animals
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. band — a music group
  17. root — the cause
  18. degree — from a university
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. root — of a plant
  21. game — a kind of play
  22. wound — an injury
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. band — a rubber band

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