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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  3. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  4. When are we going to ________________?
  5. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  6. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  21. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  22. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  23. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  24. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. content — happy
  3. land — a country
  4. land — to come down
  5. land — ground
  6. content — the amount
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. coach — pulled by horses
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. tear — to rip
  12. tear — from crying
  13. chair — to sit on
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. tear — from crying
  17. staff — employees
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. spring — a coil
  20. chair — a professorship
  21. chair — a leader
  22. staff — employees
  23. staff — a stick
  24. lash — a whip stroke

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