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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. We're on a ________________ here.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Where did you ________________ them?
  6. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  15. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  16. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  23. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. roll — on a roll
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. mug — a face
  5. mug — to rob
  6. roll — a list
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. field — a subject
  9. net — after costs
  10. bat — the animal
  11. mug — a cup
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. net — for catching
  14. dip — to dunk
  15. dip — to sink
  16. roll — a cake
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. net — in sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. spring — of water
  22. dip — a sauce
  23. spring — the season
  24. field — for sport

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