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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: cold · kid · chair · roll · stem · swing · lie · lash

  1. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  6. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?
  7. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  8. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  9. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. We're on a ________________ here.
  15. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  16. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  17. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  21. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.

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

Answer key

  1. roll — a cake
  2. cold — an illness
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. roll — a list
  6. lie — an untruth
  7. stem — to come from
  8. stem — a stem cell
  9. chair — to sit on
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. swing — music
  12. kid — child
  13. cold — not warm
  14. roll — on a roll
  15. chair — a professorship
  16. stem — of a plant
  17. chair — a leader
  18. swing — to play on
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. lie — an untruth
  21. kid — to tease
  22. swing — in golf
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. lie — to recline

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