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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's taking a ________________ right now.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  4. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. That was a fun ________________.
  12. I've got to change the light ________________.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. My father caught me by the ________________.
  15. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  16. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  17. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.

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

Answer key

  1. shower — to wash
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. mine — belonging to me
  4. arm — a part of something
  5. hand — help
  6. branch — of a tree
  7. bulb — for light
  8. branch — a division
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. game — wild animals
  11. game — a match
  12. bulb — for light
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. arm — part of the body
  15. branch — of a bank
  16. game — a kind of play
  17. mine — for digging
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. mine — an explosive
  20. shower — rain
  21. hand — in cards
  22. bulb — of a plant
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. arm — part of the body

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