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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 116 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: patient · stem · face · lash · bark · cold · sharp · pitch

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  3. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  6. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  7. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  13. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  14. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  17. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  20. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  21. The water is too ________________.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. It's one o'clock ________________.
  24. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. patient — calm and waiting
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. pitch — completely
  5. face — part of the head
  6. bark — a dog's sound
  7. pitch — a sports field
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. face — to point toward
  10. bark — to shout
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. pitch — a sales talk
  13. sharp — with an edge
  14. bark — of a tree
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. stem — a stem cell
  17. stem — to come from
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. face — to confront
  20. sharp — clever
  21. cold — not warm
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. sharp — exactly
  24. cold — an illness

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