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

Word bank: chest · mine · band · spring · snap · can · club · lash

  1. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  2. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  5. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  6. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  9. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  12. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  13. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  14. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  15. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  20. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  21. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  22. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. can — to be able to
  2. chest — of your body
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. spring — the season
  5. band — a ring
  6. mine — belonging to me
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. club — for dancing
  9. snap — to click
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. snap — to snap out of it
  12. chest — a box
  13. snap — to speak sharply
  14. club — for golf
  15. can — a tin
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. spring — a coil
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. spring — of water
  20. chest — of your body
  21. club — a group
  22. can — a tin
  23. mine — for digging
  24. band — a music group

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