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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. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  3. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. We're on a ________________ here.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  15. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  16. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  17. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  18. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  24. The players ran onto the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. roll — a cake
  3. march — music
  4. chest — of your body
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. nail — on a finger
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. mark — a grade
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. roll — on a roll
  13. mark — a trace
  14. mark — to pay attention
  15. nail — for a hammer
  16. march — the month
  17. march — the month
  18. roll — a list
  19. snap — to click
  20. pitch — completely
  21. chest — a box
  22. chest — of your body
  23. snap — to snap out of it
  24. pitch — a sports field

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