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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 116 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. He works in a ________________ mill.
  2. She's very handy with a ________________.
  3. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  4. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  5. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  6. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  7. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  10. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  15. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  19. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  20. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  21. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. saw — the tool
  2. saw — the tool
  3. row — a quarrel
  4. squash — the sport
  5. row — a line
  6. hand — part of the body
  7. row — to paddle
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. spring — a coil
  10. hand — help
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. content — the amount
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. saw — past of 'see'
  15. patient — a sick person
  16. spring — of water
  17. content — happy
  18. content — videos and posts
  19. patient — a sick person
  20. spring — the season
  21. hand — in cards
  22. squash — to crush
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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