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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. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  2. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  3. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  4. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  9. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  14. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  15. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. The ________________ went through the wall.
  18. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  19. The ball is in your ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  24. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. nail — on a finger
  2. mine — belonging to me
  3. net — for catching
  4. sharp — with an edge
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. mine — for digging
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. patient — calm and waiting
  9. net — after costs
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. court — of a king
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. mine — an explosive
  15. sharp — clever
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. nail — for a hammer
  18. net — in sport
  19. court — for sport
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. bat — the animal
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. court — of law
  24. patient — a sick person

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