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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 120 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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  11. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  14. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  15. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  16. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  17. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  18. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. degree — from a university
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. chest — of your body
  5. saw — past of 'see'
  6. saw — the tool
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. cap — of ice
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. content — happy
  11. cue — for pool
  12. degree — an amount
  13. content — videos and posts
  14. content — the amount
  15. cap — a hat
  16. cue — a hint
  17. degree — temperature
  18. cue — a signal
  19. chest — a box
  20. chest — of your body
  21. cap — a lid
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. saw — the tool
  24. patient — a sick person

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