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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 no middle ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  5. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  6. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  16. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  21. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  24. She's very handy with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ground — a position
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. fine — all right
  5. ground — the earth
  6. fine — a penalty
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. ground — crushed
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. fine — high quality
  12. fall — to drop
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. saw — the tool
  15. saw — past of 'see'
  16. clip — for paper
  17. field — a subject
  18. fall — to drop
  19. field — for sport
  20. clip — to cut
  21. clip — a video
  22. field — farmland
  23. fall — the season
  24. saw — the tool

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