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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 116 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. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  2. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  8. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  15. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  18. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  19. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. wake — to stop sleeping
  2. bass — the instrument
  3. bass — the fish
  4. cold — an illness
  5. tear — from crying
  6. kid — to tease
  7. racket — a loud noise
  8. tear — to rip
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. squash — the sport
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. squash — the vegetable
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. tear — from crying
  15. lash — to lash out
  16. kid — child
  17. squash — to crush
  18. bass — low music
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wake — a trail
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  24. lash — an eyelash

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