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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 116 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 from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: stick · deal · lash · season · cold · trunk · rest · row

  1. The water is too ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  4. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  5. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  6. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  7. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  8. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  12. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  17. Did you ________________ the meat?
  18. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  24. I had a ________________ with my boss today.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — not warm
  2. cold — an illness
  3. stick — a piece of wood
  4. rest — what's left
  5. trunk — of an elephant
  6. stick — a piece of wood
  7. trunk — of a car
  8. rest — a break
  9. deal — to handle
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. deal — a big deal
  12. rest — what's left
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. season — in sport
  16. trunk — of a tree
  17. season — to add flavour
  18. season — of the year
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. row — to paddle
  22. row — a line
  23. stick — to attach or keep to
  24. row — a quarrel

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