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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  3. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  8. That was ________________ to happen.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  14. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. cold — the Cold War
  3. bound — obliged
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. snap — to snap out of it
  6. cold — an illness
  7. spring — of water
  8. bound — certain
  9. snap — to click
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. spring — a coil
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. lean — thin
  14. bound — tied together
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — child
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. spring — the season
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bat — the animal
  22. lean — to rest against
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. lean — to bend

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