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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 120 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: rush · pound · scale · cold · lash · cell · suit · wound

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  4. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  5. He was locked up in a ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  10. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  11. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  14. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  18. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  19. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  20. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  21. That must've been a ________________.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. You shouldn't ________________ things.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. rush — hurry
  3. cell — a phone
  4. pound — for dogs
  5. cell — in a prison
  6. wound — an injury
  7. scale — in music
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. scale — size or range
  10. scale — for weighing
  11. wound — an injury
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. suit — clothes
  14. cold — an illness
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. wound — past of 'wind'
  18. pound — a weight
  19. cell — in biology
  20. suit — in cards
  21. rush — a thrill
  22. cold — not warm
  23. suit — to fit
  24. rush — to hurry

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