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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  5. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  6. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  10. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  11. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  15. It's one o'clock ________________.
  16. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  19. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  3. club — for dancing
  4. branch — of a tree
  5. calf — of the leg
  6. branch — of a bank
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. club — for golf
  10. calf — a young animal
  11. chip — to eat
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. cold — an illness
  14. calf — a young animal
  15. sharp — exactly
  16. kid — to tease
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. club — a group
  19. branch — a division
  20. cold — not warm
  21. chip — for betting
  22. sharp — clever
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. kid — child

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