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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: lash · spring · club · band · cold · wound · season · mouse

  1. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. "I don't like games like this," squeaked the ________________.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  8. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  9. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  10. Should I buy a wireless ________________?
  11. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  15. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  16. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  17. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  18. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  19. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  20. I thought I heard a ________________ in the kitchen.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. wound — past of 'wind'
  2. cold — an illness
  3. club — for golf
  4. wound — an injury
  5. mouse — the animal
  6. wound — an injury
  7. spring — the season
  8. band — a ring
  9. season — in sport
  10. mouse — for a computer
  11. lash — to lash out
  12. cold — not warm
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. spring — of water
  15. season — of the year
  16. band — a rubber band
  17. club — a group
  18. band — a music group
  19. club — for dancing
  20. mouse — the animal
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. spring — a coil
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. season — to add flavour

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