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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: lash · game · bat · pitcher · kick · charge · chair · cold

  1. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  7. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. The tickets are free of ________________.
  13. That was a fun ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  16. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  19. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  20. He is an ace ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  23. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  24. Fill up this ________________ with water.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. game — a kind of play
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. chair — a leader
  11. game — wild animals
  12. charge — a price
  13. game — a match
  14. cold — not warm
  15. chair — to sit on
  16. kick — in football
  17. charge — in control
  18. kick — with a leg
  19. bat — for baseball
  20. pitcher — in baseball
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bat — the animal
  23. charge — electricity
  24. pitcher — a jug

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