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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. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  6. Where did you ________________ them?
  7. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  8. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. We're on a ________________ here.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. He works in a ________________ mill.
  15. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  16. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  17. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  18. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  19. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  22. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  23. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  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. mug — a face
  2. saw — the tool
  3. chest — a box
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. mug — a cup
  6. mug — to rob
  7. bat — in an idiom
  8. lash — a whip stroke
  9. bat — the animal
  10. roll — on a roll
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. roll — a list
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. saw — the tool
  15. roll — a cake
  16. saw — past of 'see'
  17. chest — of your body
  18. lash — an eyelash
  19. cap — a lid
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. chest — of your body
  22. cap — of ice
  23. cap — a hat
  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