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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. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  2. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  6. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. This piece is in a major ________________.
  17. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  20. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Don't do anything ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!

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

Answer key

  1. bear — the animal
  2. rash — on the skin
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. wound — an injury
  5. spring — the season
  6. band — a rubber band
  7. band — a music group
  8. spring — a coil
  9. game — a kind of play
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a match
  12. key — for a lock
  13. bear — the animal
  14. spring — of water
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. key — in music
  17. band — a ring
  18. wound — an injury
  19. key — the most important part
  20. rash — a series
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. rash — hasty
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. bear — to put up with

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