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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. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  2. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  8. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. We're almost out of ________________.
  11. You don't need to ________________ round.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  15. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  21. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  22. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  23. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. scale — size or range
  2. dip — to sink
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. pop — music
  5. cold — an illness
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. season — in sport
  8. season — of the year
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. pop — soda
  11. pop — to visit
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. cold — not warm
  14. race — humankind
  15. race — a contest
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. race — the arms race
  18. scale — in music
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. wound — an injury
  21. dip — a sauce
  22. scale — for weighing
  23. wound — an injury
  24. dip — to dunk

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