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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 120 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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  5. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. It's one o'clock ________________.
  10. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  13. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  19. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  20. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  21. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  22. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. bat — the animal
  3. band — a ring
  4. patient — a sick person
  5. patient — calm and waiting
  6. shower — rain
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. sharp — exactly
  10. coach — pulled by horses
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. sharp — with an edge
  13. band — a music group
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. sharp — clever
  16. shower — to wash
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. bat — in an idiom
  19. pit — a hole
  20. patient — a sick person
  21. shower — a meteor shower
  22. pit — in a race
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. pit — a fruit stone

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