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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. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  5. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. David sat on the ________________.
  13. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  14. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  17. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.

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

Answer key

  1. court — of law
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bear — to put up with
  5. patient — a sick person
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. court — for sport
  8. net — for catching
  9. net — after costs
  10. cold — the Cold War
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. swing — to play on
  13. net — in sport
  14. bear — the animal
  15. swing — music
  16. bear — the animal
  17. swing — in golf
  18. court — of a king
  19. cold — not warm
  20. fan — to cool the air
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. patient — calm and waiting
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. fan — a supporter

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