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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  4. This piece is in a major ________________.
  5. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  6. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  9. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  10. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  11. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  12. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  15. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  18. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  21. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  22. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  23. David sat on the ________________.
  24. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. key — the most important part
  4. key — in music
  5. bark — to shout
  6. toast — a drink to someone
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. pound — a weight
  9. pound — for dogs
  10. bark — of a tree
  11. spring — the season
  12. key — for a lock
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. patient — a sick person
  15. swing — music
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. bark — a dog's sound
  18. swing — in golf
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. spring — a coil
  21. toast — the most admired
  22. toast — bread
  23. swing — to play on
  24. pound — to hit hard

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