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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  6. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  7. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  11. Don't do anything ________________.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. kid — child
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. pass — a permit
  5. rash — on the skin
  6. pass — to spend time
  7. march — music
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. march — the month
  10. kid — to tease
  11. rash — hasty
  12. land — a country
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. land — ground
  15. mine — for digging
  16. rash — a series
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. scale — size or range
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. pass — to succeed
  21. land — to come down
  22. march — the month
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. scale — in music

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