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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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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: net · lash · charge · cold · saw · wind · track · ground

  1. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. She's very handy with a ________________.
  4. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The tickets are free of ________________.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  9. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  10. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  13. There's no middle ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. He works in a ________________ mill.
  19. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  22. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. The ball hit the back of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — crushed
  2. wind — moving air
  3. saw — the tool
  4. track — a song
  5. cold — not warm
  6. charge — a price
  7. cold — an illness
  8. ground — the earth
  9. track — a path
  10. track — to keep track
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. wind — moving air
  13. ground — a position
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. net — after costs
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. saw — the tool
  19. charge — in control
  20. net — for catching
  21. wind — to turn a key
  22. charge — electricity
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. net — in sport

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