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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: cue · lash · object · cold · race · perch · cell · foot

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  3. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  4. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  7. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  8. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  9. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  10. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  16. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. He was locked up in a ________________.
  20. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.
  21. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  22. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  23. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  24. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. object — an aim
  3. object — to protest
  4. foot — part of the body
  5. cold — not warm
  6. cue — a signal
  7. cue — a hint
  8. race — humankind
  9. object — a thing
  10. cue — for pool
  11. cold — an illness
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. perch — for a bird
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. cell — a phone
  16. perch — for a bird
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. cell — in a prison
  20. foot — a measure
  21. race — a contest
  22. race — the arms race
  23. foot — the bottom
  24. perch — the fish

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