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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 little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  9. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  16. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. club — for golf
  3. patient — a sick person
  4. cold — an illness
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. club — a group
  8. spring — the season
  9. bear — the animal
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. pitcher — a jug
  12. spring — of water
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wave — of the sea
  16. patient — calm and waiting
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. wave — with your hand
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. cold — not warm
  21. wave — a sudden rise
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. club — for dancing
  24. pitcher — in baseball

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