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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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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  3. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  4. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  12. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  13. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  14. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  17. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  18. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  19. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  23. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  24. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. hand — help
  3. degree — an amount
  4. rest — what's left
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. hand — in cards
  12. shower — rain
  13. rest — a break
  14. current — electric
  15. shower — to wash
  16. wake — to stop sleeping
  17. current — of water
  18. rest — what's left
  19. current — happening now
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. degree — temperature
  22. wake — a trail
  23. wake — before a funeral
  24. degree — from a university

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