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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. How do you ________________ your surname?
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  5. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. When was this ________________ built?
  8. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  9. That must've been a ________________.
  10. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  11. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  14. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  15. When are we going to ________________?
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  23. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  24. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. spell — letters
  3. land — ground
  4. temple — a place of worship
  5. racket — a loud noise
  6. spring — of water
  7. temple — a place of worship
  8. rush — to hurry
  9. rush — a thrill
  10. file — a document
  11. land — a country
  12. spring — the season
  13. rush — hurry
  14. temple — side of the head
  15. land — to come down
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. spell — a short time
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. spring — a coil
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. spell — magic
  22. racket — for tennis
  23. file — a line of people
  24. file — a tool

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