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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 spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  4. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  8. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  9. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  10. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  13. The water is too ________________.
  14. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  18. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  19. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  20. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  21. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  22. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  23. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  24. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. club — for dancing
  4. cold — an illness
  5. perch — the fish
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. club — a group
  8. content — happy
  9. content — videos and posts
  10. chair — a professorship
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. club — for golf
  13. cold — not warm
  14. fan — a supporter
  15. content — the amount
  16. prune — to trim
  17. cold — the Cold War
  18. perch — for a bird
  19. chair — to sit on
  20. fan — a supporter
  21. perch — for a bird
  22. prune — the fruit
  23. prune — to trim
  24. chair — a leader

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