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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 116 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. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  2. Have you met the new head ________________?
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  6. The ________________ went through the wall.
  7. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  21. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  22. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  23. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. wind — moving air
  2. coach — a trainer
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. hand — in cards
  5. coach — pulled by horses
  6. nail — for a hammer
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. patient — a sick person
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. nail — on a finger
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. season — of the year
  14. cold — not warm
  15. cold — an illness
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. hand — help
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. wind — moving air
  21. cold — the Cold War
  22. season — in sport
  23. wind — to turn a key
  24. season — to add flavour

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