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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. The water is too ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. The King held a masked ________________.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  18. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. wind — moving air
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. ball — a dance
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. ball — a great time
  9. fork — in a road
  10. bass — the fish
  11. chair — a professorship
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. wind — moving air
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. chair — a leader
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. chair — to sit on
  18. vault — an arched ceiling
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. vault — a safe
  23. bass — low music
  24. vault — in gymnastics

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