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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 spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  20. False peace will not ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  23. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  24. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. bank — for money
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. kid — to tease
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. bank — for money
  10. pop — soda
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. last — finally
  13. pop — to visit
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. fork — a garden tool
  16. cold — not warm
  17. pop — music
  18. fork — in a road
  19. kid — child
  20. last — to go on
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. last — final
  23. fork — to eat with
  24. bank — of a river

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