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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 120 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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: prune · cold · wind · pitcher · lash · bulb · hand · bark

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. I've got to change the light ________________.
  8. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  11. He is an ace ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. The light ________________ burned out.
  14. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  15. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  16. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  23. The water is too ________________.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. wind — to turn a key
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. bulb — for light
  8. prune — to trim
  9. wind — moving air
  10. hand — in cards
  11. pitcher — in baseball
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. bulb — for light
  14. prune — the fruit
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. bark — to shout
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. wind — moving air
  20. bark — a dog's sound
  21. hand — help
  22. prune — to trim
  23. cold — not warm
  24. lash — an eyelash

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