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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. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  2. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  7. The ball is in your ________________.
  8. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  12. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  13. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  14. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  19. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  24. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. kick — a thrill
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. clip — for paper
  5. court — of law
  6. clip — to cut
  7. court — for sport
  8. clip — a video
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. spell — letters
  11. spell — a short time
  12. spell — magic
  13. stem — a stem cell
  14. stem — of a plant
  15. current — happening now
  16. kick — with a leg
  17. court — of a king
  18. stem — to come from
  19. current — of water
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. spring — the season
  22. spring — a coil
  23. current — electric
  24. kick — in football

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