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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. The water is too ________________.
  4. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  5. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  8. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  11. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  13. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  14. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. David sat on the ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  23. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  24. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. cold — not warm
  4. patient — calm and waiting
  5. cold — the Cold War
  6. mine — for digging
  7. lean — to bend
  8. jam — in traffic
  9. swing — music
  10. jam — to spread on bread
  11. jam — a tight spot
  12. lean — to rest against
  13. mine — an explosive
  14. perch — for a bird
  15. lean — thin
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. swing — to play on
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. cold — an illness
  21. swing — in golf
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. perch — the fish
  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