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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  6. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. It's one o'clock ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. wind — moving air
  3. hand — in cards
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. rush — hurry
  6. sharp — clever
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. straw — dry grass
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. sharp — exactly
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. hand — help
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. cold — not warm
  17. wind — moving air
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. rush — to hurry
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. straw — to clutch at straws
  24. patient — a sick person

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