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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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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: content · snap · mine · cold · lash · wound · fall · fine

  1. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  4. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  5. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  12. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  19. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  20. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. This looks like a gunshot ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. fall — to drop
  2. content — the amount
  3. fall — the season
  4. content — videos and posts
  5. mine — for digging
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. mine — belonging to me
  12. fine — a penalty
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. content — happy
  15. fine — high quality
  16. wound — an injury
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. fall — to drop
  19. snap — to click
  20. fine — all right
  21. cold — an illness
  22. snap — to snap out of it
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. wound — an injury

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