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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: lie · row · wound · lash · cold · rash · kick · vault

  1. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  10. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  13. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  14. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  15. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  18. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  19. Don't do anything ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  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. lie — an untruth
  2. wound — an injury
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. vault — a safe
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. row — a quarrel
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. kick — a thrill
  10. lie — to recline
  11. wound — an injury
  12. kick — in football
  13. row — a line
  14. lie — an untruth
  15. rash — a series
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. rash — on the skin
  18. cold — the Cold War
  19. rash — hasty
  20. cold — an illness
  21. wound — past of 'wind'
  22. row — to paddle
  23. vault — in gymnastics
  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