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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. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  6. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. You don't need to ________________ round.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. He is an ace ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  23. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — child
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. wind — moving air
  6. pitcher — a jug
  7. wind — moving air
  8. pop — to visit
  9. kick — in football
  10. pop — music
  11. kick — a thrill
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. pitcher — in baseball
  15. kid — to tease
  16. wind — to turn a key
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. march — the month
  20. pop — soda
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. march — music
  23. pitcher — a jug
  24. march — the month

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