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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  4. When will it ________________ you to start?
  5. We're on a ________________ here.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  9. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  10. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  12. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  13. He is an ace ________________.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  16. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  17. When are we going to ________________?
  18. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  19. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  20. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  21. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  22. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — of water
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. land — ground
  4. suit — to fit
  5. roll — on a roll
  6. tear — to rip
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. pitcher — a jug
  9. roll — a list
  10. suit — in cards
  11. kid — to tease
  12. land — a country
  13. pitcher — in baseball
  14. spring — a coil
  15. pitcher — a jug
  16. suit — clothes
  17. land — to come down
  18. roll — a cake
  19. spring — the season
  20. tear — from crying
  21. tear — from crying
  22. kid — child
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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