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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. David sat on the ________________.
  2. Don't do anything ________________.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  6. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  7. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  12. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  16. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  17. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  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. swing — to play on
  2. rash — hasty
  3. swing — music
  4. wound — an injury
  5. file — a document
  6. hide — to keep secret
  7. swing — in golf
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. bat — the animal
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. patient — calm and waiting
  12. wound — past of 'wind'
  13. file — a line of people
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. hide — animal skin
  16. rash — a series
  17. bat — for baseball
  18. wound — an injury
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. patient — a sick person
  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