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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. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  5. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  6. When are we going to ________________?
  7. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  8. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  9. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  10. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  13. David sat on the ________________.
  14. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  15. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  16. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  17. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  21. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  22. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  23. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  24. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. patient — a sick person
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. row — a quarrel
  5. wave — of the sea
  6. land — to come down
  7. patient — a sick person
  8. wave — a sudden rise
  9. swing — music
  10. patient — calm and waiting
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. swing — in golf
  13. swing — to play on
  14. squash — the vegetable
  15. root — of a plant
  16. row — a line
  17. root — of a word
  18. squash — the sport
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. land — a country
  21. root — the cause
  22. squash — to crush
  23. wave — with your hand
  24. row — to paddle

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