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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  3. Did you ________________ the meat?
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  6. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  7. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  8. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  9. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  10. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  11. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  16. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. season — of the year
  3. season — to add flavour
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. mine — belonging to me
  6. lean — to bend
  7. wound — an injury
  8. mine — an explosive
  9. cold — an illness
  10. lean — thin
  11. season — in sport
  12. wound — an injury
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. last — final
  16. lean — to rest against
  17. stem — to come from
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. mine — for digging
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. last — finally
  24. last — to go on

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