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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 120 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: march · fall · cell · leaves · kid · bear · pit · lash

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  5. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  6. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  7. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. He was locked up in a ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  16. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  17. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  18. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  19. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  20. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  21. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  22. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  23. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. march — the month
  3. pit — a hole
  4. march — the month
  5. bear — to put up with
  6. leaves — to go away
  7. bear — the animal
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. fall — to drop
  11. leaves — lets stay
  12. kid — to tease
  13. cell — in a prison
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. fall — to drop
  16. fall — the season
  17. march — music
  18. kid — child
  19. pit — in a race
  20. bear — the animal
  21. cell — a phone
  22. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  23. pit — a fruit stone
  24. cell — in biology

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