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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 120 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. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  5. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  8. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  14. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  17. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  18. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  22. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  23. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  24. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. craft — a handicraft
  2. bat — the animal
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. craft — a skill
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. craft — boats
  8. chest — a box
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. spring — a coil
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. fan — a supporter
  14. chest — of your body
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. spring — the season
  17. racket — a loud noise
  18. racket — for tennis
  19. cold — not warm
  20. cold — an illness
  21. fan — a supporter
  22. cold — the Cold War
  23. chest — of your body
  24. spring — of water

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