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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  7. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  8. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  9. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  10. Where did you ________________ them?
  11. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  14. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  17. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  23. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  24. David sat on the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. root — of a word
  3. swing — music
  4. mug — a face
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. spring — of water
  7. fork — a garden tool
  8. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  9. kid — to tease
  10. mug — to rob
  11. root — the cause
  12. spring — the season
  13. mug — a cup
  14. capital — a big letter
  15. capital — a city
  16. root — of a plant
  17. kid — child
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. fork — to eat with
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. swing — in golf
  22. capital — money
  23. fork — in a road
  24. swing — to play on

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