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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: cold · ground · stem · row · net · snap · pit · lash

  1. There's no middle ________________.
  2. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  3. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  4. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  15. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  16. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  19. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  20. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  21. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  22. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  23. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  24. Boris sat near the fire ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. row — to paddle
  3. net — after costs
  4. pit — in a race
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. snap — to speak sharply
  7. ground — the earth
  8. cold — an illness
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. lash — to lash out
  11. cold — not warm
  12. stem — to come from
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. ground — crushed
  15. snap — to snap out of it
  16. row — a quarrel
  17. net — for catching
  18. stem — of a plant
  19. pit — a fruit stone
  20. snap — to click
  21. row — a line
  22. stem — a stem cell
  23. net — in sport
  24. pit — a hole

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