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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  4. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  5. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  6. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  11. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  12. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  15. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  16. How do you ________________ your surname?
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  24. He had ________________ pain while walking.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. file — a document
  4. degree — an amount
  5. file — a line of people
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. hand — in cards
  8. file — a tool
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. bat — for baseball
  11. degree — from a university
  12. cue — a signal
  13. hand — help
  14. cue — a hint
  15. spell — a short time
  16. spell — letters
  17. spell — magic
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. degree — temperature
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. cue — for pool
  24. calf — of the leg

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