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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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  16. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  22. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  23. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  24. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. dip — to sink
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. branch — a division
  7. wind — moving air
  8. rock — a stone
  9. cell — a phone
  10. degree — from a university
  11. degree — temperature
  12. dip — to dunk
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. rock — to move gently
  16. bat — the animal
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. dip — a sauce
  19. rock — music
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. cell — in biology
  22. degree — an amount
  23. branch — of a bank
  24. branch — of a tree

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