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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  8. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  9. He was locked up in a ________________.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  13. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  14. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  15. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  22. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  23. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  24. It's one o'clock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. kid — to tease
  4. chest — of your body
  5. cell — a phone
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. face — to confront
  8. kid — child
  9. cell — in a prison
  10. wind — moving air
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. cell — in biology
  13. face — to point toward
  14. face — part of the head
  15. calf — of the leg
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. wind — moving air
  18. calf — a young animal
  19. sharp — clever
  20. chest — of your body
  21. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. chest — a box
  24. sharp — exactly

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