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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. We're almost out of ________________.
  2. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. You don't need to ________________ round.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  8. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  16. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  17. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  18. That must've been a ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.

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

Answer key

  1. pop — soda
  2. bank — of a river
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. pop — to visit
  6. kick — in football
  7. rush — hurry
  8. wind — moving air
  9. bat — the animal
  10. chest — of your body
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. chest — a box
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. bank — for money
  16. wind — moving air
  17. pop — music
  18. rush — a thrill
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. chest — of your body
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. bank — for money

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