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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: field · cell · pitch · pound · lash · rush · cold · mate

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. That must've been a ________________.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  7. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  8. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  11. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  12. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  13. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  14. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  15. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  16. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. Have you found your soul ________________?
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. rush — a thrill
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. field — a subject
  6. cold — the Cold War
  7. pitch — a sales talk
  8. mate — to breed
  9. field — for sport
  10. rush — hurry
  11. mate — a friend
  12. pitch — a sports field
  13. rush — to hurry
  14. pound — a weight
  15. cell — in biology
  16. pound — to hit hard
  17. field — farmland
  18. pound — for dogs
  19. cold — not warm
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. cell — a phone
  22. mate — a partner
  23. cold — an illness
  24. pitch — completely

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