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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 a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  3. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  4. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  7. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  10. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  11. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  12. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  13. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  14. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  15. There's no middle ________________.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. ground — the earth
  3. bowl — a football final
  4. lash — an eyelash
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. ground — crushed
  7. file — a line of people
  8. spring — of water
  9. present — a gift
  10. row — a line
  11. bowl — a dish
  12. present — the time now
  13. hand — help
  14. spring — the season
  15. ground — a position
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. file — a tool
  18. hand — in cards
  19. present — there
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. file — a document
  23. row — to paddle
  24. lash — to lash out

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