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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. He works in a ________________ mill.
  6. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  12. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. That was a fun ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  18. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  19. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  20. She's very handy with a ________________.
  21. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. field — farmland
  3. game — a kind of play
  4. field — for sport
  5. saw — the tool
  6. bore — to drill
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. snap — to click
  9. spring — a coil
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. snap — to speak sharply
  12. bore — to tire
  13. spring — the season
  14. spring — of water
  15. game — a match
  16. field — a subject
  17. straw — a straw man
  18. bore — gave birth
  19. saw — past of 'see'
  20. saw — the tool
  21. game — wild animals
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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