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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. The ________________ went through the wall.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. There's no middle ________________.
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  9. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  13. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  14. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  15. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  16. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  17. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  21. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. wound — an injury
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. nail — for a hammer
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. ground — a position
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. nail — on a finger
  9. squash — to crush
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. spring — the season
  12. bark — of a tree
  13. squash — the vegetable
  14. squash — the sport
  15. bark — a dog's sound
  16. scale — in music
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. wound — an injury
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. ground — crushed
  21. bark — to shout
  22. ground — the earth
  23. scale — size or range
  24. spring — of water

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