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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. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The ________________ market has crashed.
  11. That was ________________ to happen.
  12. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  20. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  21. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  24. We are ________________ to obey laws.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. cold — not warm
  6. ruler — for measuring
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. ruler — a monarch
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. stock — shares
  11. bound — certain
  12. straw — to clutch at straws
  13. fall — to drop
  14. fall — to drop
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bound — tied together
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. bat — the animal
  19. stock — goods
  20. ruler — for measuring
  21. fall — the season
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. stock — a soup base
  24. bound — obliged

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