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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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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 · cold · fork · pitcher · stick · wind · bat · rush

  1. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. He is an ace ________________.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  13. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  14. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  15. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. That must've been a ________________.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  22. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  23. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. rush — hurry
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. bat — the animal
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. pitcher — in baseball
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. wind — moving air
  11. cold — not warm
  12. fork — a garden tool
  13. fork — in a road
  14. wind — to turn a key
  15. stick — to attach or keep to
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. cold — an illness
  19. rush — a thrill
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. pitcher — a jug
  22. fork — to eat with
  23. stick — a piece of wood
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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