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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  5. The people resisted their cruel ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  11. A ________________ helps one to draw a straight line.
  12. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  13. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  14. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  15. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  21. Borders were drawn on the map using a ________________, with no regard for cultural realities on the ground.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. shower — a meteor shower
  5. ruler — a monarch
  6. shower — rain
  7. clip — for paper
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. bear — to put up with
  11. ruler — for measuring
  12. spring — the season
  13. file — a line of people
  14. clip — a video
  15. shower — to wash
  16. field — farmland
  17. bear — the animal
  18. bear — the animal
  19. spring — of water
  20. file — a document
  21. ruler — for measuring
  22. file — a tool
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. clip — to cut

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