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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  4. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  7. It's one o'clock ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  12. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  13. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  14. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  15. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  18. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. file — a tool
  4. file — a line of people
  5. degree — temperature
  6. file — a document
  7. sharp — exactly
  8. spring — of water
  9. pound — a weight
  10. spring — the season
  11. wake — to stop sleeping
  12. pound — for dogs
  13. vault — a safe
  14. wake — a trail
  15. vault — in gymnastics
  16. spring — a coil
  17. vault — an arched ceiling
  18. sharp — clever
  19. degree — an amount
  20. wake — before a funeral
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. degree — from a university
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. pound — to hit hard

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