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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 116 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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  4. What do you think of the new ________________?
  5. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  16. False peace will not ________________.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. land — to come down
  3. wound — an injury
  4. cabinet — ministers
  5. staff — employees
  6. land — ground
  7. degree — from a university
  8. wound — an injury
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. cabinet — ministers
  11. land — a country
  12. degree — an amount
  13. staff — employees
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. cabinet — a cupboard
  16. last — to go on
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. last — final
  19. degree — temperature
  20. cell — a phone
  21. cell — in biology
  22. staff — a stick
  23. last — finally
  24. cell — in a prison

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