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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. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  2. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  3. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  4. She's very handy with a ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  7. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  11. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  14. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  17. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  18. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  19. The water is too ________________.
  20. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  21. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  24. He works in a ________________ mill.

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

Answer key

  1. kick — a thrill
  2. current — electric
  3. kick — with a leg
  4. saw — the tool
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. patient — a sick person
  7. kick — in football
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. shower — to wash
  11. saw — past of 'see'
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. cold — an illness
  14. cold — the Cold War
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. current — of water
  17. fan — a supporter
  18. patient — a sick person
  19. cold — not warm
  20. shower — rain
  21. current — happening now
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. fan — to cool the air
  24. saw — the tool

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