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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 spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  12. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  16. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. She's very handy with a ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. He works in a ________________ mill.
  24. She's sitting on a gold ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. wind — moving air
  3. court — of law
  4. spring — of water
  5. wound — an injury
  6. kick — in football
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. wound — past of 'wind'
  9. court — for sport
  10. spring — a coil
  11. wind — to turn a key
  12. saw — past of 'see'
  13. wind — moving air
  14. court — of a king
  15. mine — belonging to me
  16. kick — a thrill
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. saw — the tool
  19. wound — an injury
  20. spring — the season
  21. mine — an explosive
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. saw — the tool
  24. mine — for digging

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