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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. Don't do anything ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. That must've been a ________________.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — the animal
  3. rash — a series
  4. rash — hasty
  5. rush — hurry
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cap — a hat
  8. cap — of ice
  9. degree — an amount
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. race — the arms race
  12. prune — to trim
  13. rush — a thrill
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. cap — a lid
  17. race — humankind
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. prune — to trim
  20. degree — temperature
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. race — a contest
  23. prune — the fruit
  24. degree — from a university

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