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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. That was a fun ________________.
  2. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  7. She's very handy with a ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  10. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  11. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  12. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  13. He works in a ________________ mill.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  17. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  18. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  21. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  22. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  23. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  24. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.

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

Answer key

  1. game — a match
  2. chair — a leader
  3. spring — of water
  4. spring — the season
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. fork — in a road
  7. saw — the tool
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fall — the season
  10. fall — to drop
  11. game — wild animals
  12. tear — from crying
  13. saw — the tool
  14. spring — a coil
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. tear — from crying
  17. fork — to eat with
  18. chair — a professorship
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. fork — a garden tool
  21. tear — to rip
  22. chair — to sit on
  23. saw — past of 'see'
  24. fall — to drop

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