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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  3. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  4. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. She's very handy with a ________________.
  7. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  8. He works in a ________________ mill.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  11. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  12. That was a fun ________________.
  13. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  14. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  15. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  16. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. club — for dancing
  3. pit — a hole
  4. chest — of your body
  5. game — wild animals
  6. saw — the tool
  7. chest — of your body
  8. saw — the tool
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. wind — moving air
  11. wind — moving air
  12. game — a match
  13. patient — calm and waiting
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. pit — in a race
  17. club — a group
  18. wind — to turn a key
  19. chest — a box
  20. pit — a fruit stone
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. club — for golf

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