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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 124 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. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  3. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  9. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  10. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  21. Don't do anything ________________.
  22. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. How do you ________________ your surname?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — in an idiom
  3. spell — magic
  4. chest — of your body
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. chest — a box
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. spell — a short time
  9. rash — a series
  10. firm — decided
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. firm — a company
  14. bat — the animal
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. straw — a straw man
  17. chest — of your body
  18. spring — of water
  19. spring — a coil
  20. straw — dry grass
  21. rash — hasty
  22. firm — steady
  23. spring — the season
  24. spell — letters

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