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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. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  4. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  5. When are we going to ________________?
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  16. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  17. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  18. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I'll be taking the ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  23. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. degree — from a university
  3. pound — for dogs
  4. tube — in a tire
  5. land — to come down
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. race — the arms race
  9. land — a country
  10. pound — to hit hard
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. degree — an amount
  13. land — ground
  14. race — humankind
  15. rash — on the skin
  16. tube — a container
  17. pound — a weight
  18. pitch — completely
  19. rash — hasty
  20. tube — the underground
  21. degree — temperature
  22. race — a contest
  23. pitch — a sports field
  24. rash — a series

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