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

Word bank: kick · wind · board · squash · cold · bay · lash · chest

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  4. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  5. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  6. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  7. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  8. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  9. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  12. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  13. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. My mare is ________________ in color.
  16. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  17. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chest — of your body
  3. chest — of your body
  4. board — to get on
  5. chest — a box
  6. squash — the sport
  7. wind — moving air
  8. squash — to crush
  9. bay — to keep at bay
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. squash — the vegetable
  12. wind — to turn a key
  13. kick — with a leg
  14. wind — moving air
  15. bay — a horse colour
  16. board — a flat piece
  17. cold — an illness
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. kick — in football
  22. bay — a part of the sea
  23. board — a committee
  24. lash — to lash out

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