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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  3. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  4. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  7. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  8. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  11. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  12. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  13. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  16. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  17. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  18. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  19. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  20. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  21. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  24. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. march — the month
  3. club — a group
  4. current — electric
  5. club — for dancing
  6. march — music
  7. kid — to tease
  8. lash — to lash out
  9. current — of water
  10. perch — for a bird
  11. fall — the season
  12. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  13. current — happening now
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. scale — size or range
  16. club — for golf
  17. fall — to drop
  18. scale — in music
  19. scale — for weighing
  20. perch — for a bird
  21. perch — the fish
  22. march — the month
  23. fall — to drop
  24. kid — child

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