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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 flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  5. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  6. This is my favorite ________________ on the album.
  7. The muddy ________________ descends to a valley.
  8. He keeps ________________ of his days.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  11. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  12. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  15. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  16. That must've been a ________________.
  17. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  21. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  22. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  23. Don't do anything ________________.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. last — final
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. rash — on the skin
  5. spring — a coil
  6. track — a song
  7. track — a path
  8. track — to keep track
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. degree — an amount
  11. spring — of water
  12. rush — to hurry
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. rash — a series
  15. last — finally
  16. rush — a thrill
  17. rush — hurry
  18. hand — in cards
  19. degree — temperature
  20. hand — part of the body
  21. hand — help
  22. degree — from a university
  23. rash — hasty
  24. last — to go on

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