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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  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. court — of law
  3. rash — a series
  4. straw — dry grass
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. rash — hasty
  10. row — to paddle
  11. court — for sport
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. content — the amount
  14. cell — in biology
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. straw — to clutch at straws
  17. cell — a phone
  18. row — a line
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. content — happy
  23. court — of a king
  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