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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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Word bank
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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: wound · perch · rash · cold · pitcher · sharp · bulb · lash

  1. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  2. I've got to change the light ________________.
  3. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  12. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  13. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. It's one o'clock ________________.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. The light ________________ burned out.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — clever
  2. bulb — for light
  3. pitcher — a jug
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. cold — not warm
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. perch — for a bird
  12. cold — an illness
  13. wound — an injury
  14. rash — a series
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. wound — an injury
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. sharp — exactly
  19. rash — hasty
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. rash — on the skin
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. bulb — for light
  24. perch — the fish

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