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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 120 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. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  6. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  7. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  15. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  22. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  23. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — the Cold War
  2. shower — to wash
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. cold — an illness
  5. bear — the animal
  6. bass — the instrument
  7. shower — a meteor shower
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. clip — for paper
  10. bass — the fish
  11. dip — to dunk
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. bear — the animal
  14. bear — to put up with
  15. dip — a sauce
  16. dip — to sink
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. shower — rain
  20. cold — not warm
  21. clip — to cut
  22. bass — low music
  23. clip — a video
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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