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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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Word bank
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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 pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  3. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  4. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  5. The water is too ________________.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  10. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  11. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  12. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  13. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  18. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  19. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  20. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  24. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. spring — of water
  3. fine — a penalty
  4. band — a music group
  5. cold — not warm
  6. staff — a stick
  7. game — a match
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. hand — in cards
  10. staff — employees
  11. hand — help
  12. staff — employees
  13. band — a ring
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. cold — the Cold War
  16. spring — the season
  17. hand — part of the body
  18. fine — high quality
  19. fine — all right
  20. band — a rubber band
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. spring — a coil
  23. cold — an illness
  24. game — a kind of play

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