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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 felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. My father caught me by the ________________.
  4. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  10. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  11. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  12. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  17. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. court — for sport
  3. arm — part of the body
  4. degree — from a university
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. cell — a phone
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. drill — the tool
  10. rock — a stone
  11. drill — a practice
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. court — of a king
  14. rock — music
  15. cell — in biology
  16. degree — an amount
  17. rock — to move gently
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. degree — temperature
  22. drill — army training
  23. arm — part of the body
  24. court — of law

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