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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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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: mug · spell · wave · swing · cold · lash · fall · pop

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. David sat on the ________________.
  3. How do you ________________ your surname?
  4. You don't need to ________________ round.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  8. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  16. We're almost out of ________________.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  19. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. Where did you ________________ them?
  22. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  23. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. swing — to play on
  3. spell — letters
  4. pop — to visit
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. cold — an illness
  7. mug — a cup
  8. spell — magic
  9. cold — not warm
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. wave — of the sea
  12. pop — music
  13. fall — to drop
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. mug — a face
  16. pop — soda
  17. swing — in golf
  18. fall — the season
  19. wave — with your hand
  20. fall — to drop
  21. mug — to rob
  22. wave — a sudden rise
  23. swing — music
  24. spell — a short time

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