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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. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  2. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  3. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  10. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  11. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  12. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  13. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  17. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for dancing
  2. rest — a break
  3. spring — the season
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. hand — help
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. rest — what's left
  10. sharp — with an edge
  11. scale — in music
  12. scale — size or range
  13. hand — in cards
  14. sharp — clever
  15. spring — of water
  16. scale — for weighing
  17. rest — what's left
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. spring — a coil
  21. club — for golf
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. club — a group
  24. patient — a sick person

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