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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: lash · cold · prune · bowl · cell · pitcher · pound · pass

  1. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  4. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  11. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  12. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  13. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  14. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  15. The water is too ________________.
  16. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  19. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  23. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. cold — an illness
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pound — to hit hard
  4. pass — to succeed
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. pass — a permit
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. prune — the fruit
  11. cell — in biology
  12. pitcher — a jug
  13. pound — a weight
  14. prune — to trim
  15. cold — not warm
  16. bowl — to roll
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. bowl — a dish
  19. cell — a phone
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. pass — to spend time
  23. prune — to trim
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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