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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. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  5. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  6. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  7. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  8. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  9. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The ball is in your ________________.
  14. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  17. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  18. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  19. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  22. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. I've got the luggage in my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cold — an illness
  4. wave — a sudden rise
  5. dip — to dunk
  6. dip — a sauce
  7. chest — a box
  8. trunk — of a tree
  9. wave — with your hand
  10. hand — help
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. court — for sport
  14. trunk — of an elephant
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. cold — the Cold War
  17. chest — of your body
  18. dip — to sink
  19. court — of law
  20. court — of a king
  21. wave — of the sea
  22. hand — in cards
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. trunk — of a car

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