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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. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  2. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  3. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  4. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  5. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  6. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  11. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  12. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  13. The ________________ took off on time.
  14. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  17. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  18. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  24. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. toast — bread
  2. plane — a tool
  3. shower — to wash
  4. hand — help
  5. band — a music group
  6. land — ground
  7. hand — in cards
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. land — a country
  11. band — a ring
  12. shower — a meteor shower
  13. plane — an aircraft
  14. plane — in geometry
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. patient — a sick person
  17. patient — calm and waiting
  18. toast — the most admired
  19. land — to come down
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. toast — a drink to someone
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. shower — rain
  24. hand — part of the body

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