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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. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  5. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  6. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  7. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  8. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  9. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  10. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. He was locked up in a ________________.
  16. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  17. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. bear — the animal
  3. cold — not warm
  4. net — for catching
  5. cell — a phone
  6. bear — to put up with
  7. straw — a straw man
  8. straw — to clutch at straws
  9. bank — for money
  10. net — after costs
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. cell — in a prison
  16. straw — dry grass
  17. bank — of a river
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cell — in biology
  20. cold — an illness
  21. bear — the animal
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. bank — for money
  24. bat — in an idiom

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