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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 120 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. My father caught me by the ________________.
  2. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  4. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  9. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  10. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  13. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  14. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  18. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  19. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  20. That must've been a ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  23. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  24. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. arm — part of the body
  2. club — for golf
  3. rush — hurry
  4. club — for dancing
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. spring — the season
  7. club — a group
  8. march — the month
  9. arm — a part of something
  10. arm — part of the body
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. spring — a coil
  13. march — music
  14. rush — to hurry
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. squash — the sport
  17. shower — to wash
  18. squash — the vegetable
  19. squash — to crush
  20. rush — a thrill
  21. spring — of water
  22. shower — rain
  23. shower — a meteor shower
  24. march — the month

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