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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  5. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  6. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  7. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The light ________________ burned out.
  12. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  13. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  17. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  22. I've got to change the light ________________.
  23. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. spring — of water
  4. face — to confront
  5. straw — dry grass
  6. wax — for sculpting
  7. wax — to grow
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. straw — a straw man
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. bulb — for light
  12. bulb — of a plant
  13. bark — to shout
  14. spring — the season
  15. bat — the animal
  16. face — part of the head
  17. wax — in the ear
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. spring — a coil
  22. bulb — for light
  23. face — to point toward
  24. bat — in an idiom

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