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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. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  2. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  3. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  4. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  5. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  8. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. The water is too ________________.
  11. Did you ________________ the meat?
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. season — in sport
  2. firm — steady
  3. firm — decided
  4. kick — with a leg
  5. season — of the year
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — a thrill
  8. stem — of a plant
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. cold — not warm
  11. season — to add flavour
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cell — a phone
  15. cold — an illness
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. stem — to come from
  19. bat — the animal
  20. stem — a stem cell
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. firm — a company
  23. cell — in biology
  24. bat — for baseball

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