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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. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. He was locked up in a ________________.
  8. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  11. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  12. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  13. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  14. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  15. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  19. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  22. I can't ________________ this cold.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. spell — letters
  4. swing — to play on
  5. cell — in biology
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. cell — in a prison
  8. file — a tool
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. row — a quarrel
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. spell — a short time
  13. cell — a phone
  14. stand — on your feet
  15. row — a line
  16. swing — in golf
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. swing — music
  19. row — to paddle
  20. file — a document
  21. stand — for spectators
  22. stand — to bear
  23. file — a line of people
  24. spell — magic

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