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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: mug · object · cold · file · hide · cell · kick · lash

  1. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. The water is too ________________.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  16. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  17. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  21. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  22. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. hide — to keep secret
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. file — a tool
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. cold — not warm
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. kick — in football
  10. mug — a cup
  11. object — to protest
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. cell — a phone
  15. kick — with a leg
  16. hide — animal skin
  17. mug — a face
  18. cold — an illness
  19. cell — in biology
  20. hide — to keep secret
  21. object — a thing
  22. file — a line of people
  23. file — a document
  24. object — an aim

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