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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  3. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  4. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  12. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  13. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  14. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. Where did you ________________ them?
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — a face
  2. row — a quarrel
  3. row — a line
  4. lean — thin
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. mug — a cup
  9. land — ground
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. wind — moving air
  12. pitch — completely
  13. row — to paddle
  14. pitch — a sports field
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. cold — an illness
  17. mug — to rob
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. lean — to rest against
  20. land — to come down
  21. land — a country
  22. cold — not warm
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. lean — to bend

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