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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.

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: track · hide · cell · hand · mine · cold · sharp · lash

  1. It's one o'clock ________________.
  2. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  16. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  19. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  20. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. sharp — exactly
  2. cell — in biology
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. cell — a phone
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. mine — belonging to me
  8. track — to keep track
  9. hide — animal skin
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. hide — to keep secret
  13. hand — help
  14. cold — not warm
  15. track — a song
  16. cold — an illness
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. hand — part of the body
  19. mine — for digging
  20. track — a path
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. sharp — clever
  24. hand — in cards

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