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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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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: suit · chip · pitcher · hand · lash · content · row · cold

  1. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  2. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. When will it ________________ you to start?
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  20. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a quarrel
  2. pitcher — a jug
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. suit — clothes
  5. row — to paddle
  6. content — happy
  7. content — videos and posts
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. chip — to eat
  10. hand — help
  11. cold — not warm
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. pitcher — a jug
  14. cold — an illness
  15. chip — for betting
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. suit — to fit
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. chip — in a computer
  20. row — a line
  21. hand — in cards
  22. content — the amount
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. suit — 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