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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 116 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's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  3. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The ________________ market has crashed.
  6. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  10. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  11. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  12. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  13. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  14. The King held a masked ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  18. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Don't do anything ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. band — a music group
  3. stock — a soup base
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. stock — shares
  6. wake — a trail
  7. cold — not warm
  8. ball — a great time
  9. trunk — of an elephant
  10. rash — on the skin
  11. wake — before a funeral
  12. trunk — of a car
  13. rash — a series
  14. ball — a dance
  15. cold — an illness
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. stock — goods
  18. band — a ring
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. band — a rubber band
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. rash — hasty

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