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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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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: cold · bat · pound · foot · arm · land · bark · lash

  1. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  2. I have a corn on my right ________________.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  5. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. The newcomer sat down at the ________________ of the table.
  10. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. My father caught me by the ________________.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  22. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  23. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  24. Heather can grow to a ________________ or so tall.

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

Answer key

  1. pound — to hit hard
  2. foot — part of the body
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. bark — of a tree
  5. arm — part of the body
  6. cold — an illness
  7. arm — a part of something
  8. bat — the animal
  9. foot — the bottom
  10. pound — for dogs
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. land — a country
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. land — ground
  15. land — to come down
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. pound — a weight
  19. arm — part of the body
  20. cold — not warm
  21. bark — a dog's sound
  22. bark — to shout
  23. cold — the Cold War
  24. foot — a measure

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