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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 116 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 farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  6. Did you ________________ the meat?
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. The water is too ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. I've got to change the light ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  14. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  19. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  20. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  24. The light ________________ burned out.

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

Answer key

  1. patient — calm and waiting
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. bore — to drill
  4. spring — of water
  5. bulb — of a plant
  6. season — to add flavour
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. cold — not warm
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bulb — for light
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. bore — to tire
  14. trunk — of a tree
  15. spring — the season
  16. bore — gave birth
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. cold — an illness
  19. season — of the year
  20. trunk — of an elephant
  21. season — in sport
  22. spring — a coil
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. bulb — for light

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