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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: season · lash · snap · roll · cold · pitcher · wind · kid

  1. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  2. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  7. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  8. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  11. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  12. Did you ________________ the meat?
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  15. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  16. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  17. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  18. We're on a ________________ here.
  19. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. He is an ace ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. The water is too ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  2. roll — a list
  3. cold — an illness
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. wind — moving air
  6. kid — to tease
  7. pitcher — a jug
  8. cold — the Cold War
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. snap — to speak sharply
  11. snap — to click
  12. season — to add flavour
  13. season — of the year
  14. roll — a cake
  15. season — in sport
  16. snap — to snap out of it
  17. pitcher — a jug
  18. roll — on a roll
  19. wind — moving air
  20. kid — child
  21. pitcher — in baseball
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. cold — not warm

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