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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: band · fork · sharp · lash · ball · cold · pit · cell

  1. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  6. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  7. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  8. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He was locked up in a ________________.
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. The King held a masked ________________.
  17. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  18. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. He's quite ________________, isn't he?

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. band — a ring
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. cell — in biology
  6. ball — a round shape
  7. pit — in a race
  8. pit — a hole
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. fork — a garden tool
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — not warm
  13. fork — in a road
  14. cell — in a prison
  15. band — a music group
  16. ball — a dance
  17. sharp — with an edge
  18. fork — to eat with
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. cell — a phone
  21. pit — a fruit stone
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. sharp — clever

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