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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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468
Word bank
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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. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  15. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  19. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  20. Have you found your soul ________________?
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hide — animal skin
  2. mate — to breed
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. degree — from a university
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. hide — to keep secret
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. mate — a friend
  14. mine — for digging
  15. degree — temperature
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. fork — in a road
  18. wind — moving air
  19. degree — an amount
  20. mate — a partner
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. wind — moving air
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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