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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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  13. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  19. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  22. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  23. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — in an idiom
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. ground — a position
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. kick — a thrill
  7. cold — not warm
  8. cap — of ice
  9. cold — an illness
  10. content — the amount
  11. ground — the earth
  12. club — for dancing
  13. content — happy
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. bat — the animal
  16. cap — a lid
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. club — for golf
  19. cap — a hat
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. ground — crushed
  22. club — a group
  23. kick — with a leg
  24. kick — in football

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