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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: bat · lash · stick · file · mouse · kid · toast · cold

  1. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  3. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  4. The water is too ________________.
  5. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  13. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  14. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  15. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  16. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. file — a line of people
  3. mouse — for a computer
  4. cold — not warm
  5. cold — an illness
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. mouse — the animal
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. bat — the animal
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. mouse — the animal
  13. stick — a piece of wood
  14. toast — the most admired
  15. file — a tool
  16. stick — to attach or keep to
  17. kid — child
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. file — a document
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. toast — bread
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. lash — to lash out

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