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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. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  10. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  20. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. I've got to change the light ________________.
  24. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. face — to confront
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. drill — the tool
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. face — part of the head
  8. field — farmland
  9. drill — a practice
  10. club — a group
  11. field — for sport
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. bulb — of a plant
  15. field — a subject
  16. face — to point toward
  17. cold — not warm
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. cold — an illness
  20. patient — calm and waiting
  21. bulb — for light
  22. drill — army training
  23. bulb — for light
  24. club — for dancing

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