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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: patient · fall · straw · lash · tube · spring · date · cap

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  3. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  4. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  9. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  12. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  13. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  14. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  15. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  20. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  21. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  22. I'll be taking the ________________.
  23. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  24. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. date — on the calendar
  3. fall — to drop
  4. spring — of water
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. tube — in a tire
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. patient — a sick person
  9. straw — to clutch at straws
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. cap — of ice
  12. patient — calm and waiting
  13. cap — a hat
  14. spring — a coil
  15. cap — a lid
  16. date — the fruit
  17. spring — the season
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. fall — the season
  20. tube — a container
  21. fall — to drop
  22. tube — the underground
  23. patient — a sick person
  24. straw — a straw man

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