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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. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  5. Have you found your soul ________________?
  6. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  7. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  8. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  9. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  15. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  16. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  17. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  18. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  19. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  20. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  23. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. degree — an amount
  3. spring — of water
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. mate — a partner
  6. degree — temperature
  7. hand — part of the body
  8. spring — a coil
  9. object — to protest
  10. spring — the season
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. mate — a friend
  13. bat — the animal
  14. bat — for baseball
  15. hand — in cards
  16. mate — to breed
  17. hand — help
  18. fan — a supporter
  19. bat — in an idiom
  20. degree — from a university
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. object — a thing
  23. object — an aim
  24. lash — to lash out

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