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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. It's one o'clock ________________.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  9. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  10. The ________________ went through the wall.
  11. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  14. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  18. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  19. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. ball — a round shape
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. sharp — exactly
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. ball — a dance
  8. nail — for a hammer
  9. bat — the animal
  10. nail — for a hammer
  11. sharp — clever
  12. spring — of water
  13. spring — a coil
  14. mine — belonging to me
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. dip — a sauce
  18. lash — a whip stroke
  19. dip — to sink
  20. spring — the season
  21. mine — for digging
  22. mine — an explosive
  23. ball — a great time
  24. bat — for baseball

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