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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. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  5. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. The ________________ went through the wall.
  10. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  11. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  16. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  17. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  21. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  22. Where did you ________________ them?
  23. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. ball — a dance
  4. rash — a series
  5. degree — temperature
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. clip — a video
  8. ball — a great time
  9. nail — for a hammer
  10. mug — a cup
  11. degree — an amount
  12. rash — hasty
  13. nail — for a hammer
  14. spring — of water
  15. spring — the season
  16. clip — to cut
  17. degree — from a university
  18. clip — for paper
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. rash — on the skin
  21. mug — a face
  22. mug — to rob
  23. nail — on a finger
  24. ball — a round shape

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