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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. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  15. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  16. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  17. How do you ________________ your surname?
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cell — in biology
  2. cold — an illness
  3. pitch — completely
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. spell — a short time
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bat — in an idiom
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. dip — a sauce
  12. dip — to sink
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. bowl — a football final
  15. dip — to dunk
  16. cell — a phone
  17. spell — letters
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. bat — the animal
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. cold — not warm
  22. pitch — a sales talk
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. spell — magic

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