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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. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  6. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  7. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  8. It's one o'clock ________________.
  9. Have you settled on a ________________?
  10. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  18. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  19. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. racket — for tennis
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. sharp — with an edge
  6. band — a ring
  7. bat — the animal
  8. sharp — exactly
  9. date — on the calendar
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. spring — the season
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. sharp — clever
  14. spring — a coil
  15. wake — to stop sleeping
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. bat — in an idiom
  18. wake — before a funeral
  19. band — a rubber band
  20. wake — a trail
  21. spring — of water
  22. band — a music group
  23. date — the fruit
  24. racket — a loud noise

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