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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 in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  3. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  4. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  16. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  19. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  20. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. spring — a coil
  3. chest — of your body
  4. roll — a cake
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. racket — for tennis
  8. chest — a box
  9. shower — to wash
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. pass — to succeed
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. calf — a young animal
  16. calf — of the leg
  17. spring — the season
  18. pass — a permit
  19. roll — a list
  20. pass — to spend time
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. chest — of your body
  23. shower — rain
  24. racket — a loud noise

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