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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  3. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  4. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  5. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  17. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. That was a fun ________________.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  23. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. shower — to wash
  3. hide — animal skin
  4. prune — the fruit
  5. cap — a hat
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. prune — to trim
  10. chair — a leader
  11. degree — temperature
  12. cap — a lid
  13. prune — to trim
  14. degree — an amount
  15. shower — rain
  16. chair — to sit on
  17. cap — of ice
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. game — a match
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. hide — to keep secret
  23. game — wild animals
  24. degree — from a university

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