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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: wind · lash · arm · kid · cold · ground · bay · tube

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  11. My mare is ________________ in color.
  12. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  16. My father caught me by the ________________.
  17. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  18. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  19. I'll be taking the ________________.
  20. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  21. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  22. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. wind — moving air
  3. kid — child
  4. cold — not warm
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. tube — a container
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. kid — to tease
  10. tube — in a tire
  11. bay — a horse colour
  12. ground — crushed
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. bay — a part of the sea
  16. arm — part of the body
  17. ground — the earth
  18. bay — to keep at bay
  19. tube — the underground
  20. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  21. arm — part of the body
  22. wind — to turn a key
  23. wind — moving air
  24. cold — an illness

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