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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. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  11. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  14. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. That was a fun ________________.
  18. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  19. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  20. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  23. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. board — a flat piece
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. kid — to tease
  4. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. band — a music group
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. game — wild animals
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. board — to get on
  11. game — a kind of play
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. craft — a skill
  14. craft — a handicraft
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. cold — an illness
  17. game — a match
  18. board — a committee
  19. craft — boats
  20. bat — the animal
  21. cold — not warm
  22. band — a ring
  23. kid — child
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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