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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. Where did you ________________ them?
  2. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  3. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  4. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  16. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  17. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  18. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  19. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  22. The water is too ________________.
  23. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. mug — to rob
  2. spring — the season
  3. mug — a face
  4. stem — of a plant
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. cold — an illness
  7. kick — with a leg
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. file — a line of people
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. spring — of water
  13. stem — to come from
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. mug — a cup
  16. spring — a coil
  17. kick — in football
  18. file — a tool
  19. kick — a thrill
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cold — not warm
  23. file — a document
  24. lash — an eyelash

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