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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  4. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  12. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  19. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  20. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  21. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  22. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. swing — music
  4. bat — for baseball
  5. spring — a coil
  6. bat — the animal
  7. game — a match
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. game — wild animals
  11. dip — to sink
  12. dip — a sauce
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. spring — the season
  16. fork — to eat with
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. fork — in a road
  19. game — a kind of play
  20. nail — on a finger
  21. fork — a garden tool
  22. swing — in golf
  23. swing — to play on
  24. dip — to dunk

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