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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: fall · hand · kid · face · lash · fan · fork · cold

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  10. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  11. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  12. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  16. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. hand — in cards
  3. kid — to tease
  4. face — to point toward
  5. cold — an illness
  6. fall — the season
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. fan — a supporter
  10. fall — to drop
  11. face — part of the head
  12. fan — a supporter
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. kid — child
  15. fork — in a road
  16. fork — a garden tool
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. hand — help
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. face — to confront
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. fall — to drop

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