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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 116 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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  5. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  8. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  15. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  16. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  17. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  18. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  19. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  20. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  21. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  22. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. club — for golf
  3. club — a group
  4. hand — part of the body
  5. present — the time now
  6. file — a tool
  7. bowl — a dish
  8. bowl — a football final
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. hand — help
  12. net — for catching
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. present — a gift
  15. file — a line of people
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. hand — in cards
  18. bowl — to roll
  19. file — a document
  20. present — there
  21. net — in sport
  22. net — after costs
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. club — for dancing

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