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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  11. He was locked up in a ________________.
  12. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  13. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  14. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  15. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  16. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  23. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  24. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. rule — to rule out
  4. cell — a phone
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. chest — a box
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. chest — of your body
  9. court — of law
  10. rule — a law
  11. cell — in a prison
  12. last — final
  13. chest — of your body
  14. degree — from a university
  15. court — of a king
  16. racket — a loud noise
  17. degree — an amount
  18. last — finally
  19. court — for sport
  20. cell — in biology
  21. last — to go on
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. degree — temperature
  24. rule — government

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