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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: pop · bark · face · patient · rush · lash · land · court

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Sooner or later you'll have to ________________ the truth.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  6. The ball is in your ________________.
  7. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  10. She had a strange look on her ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  13. You don't need to ________________ round.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  16. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  17. Our bedroom windows ________________ the sea.
  18. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  23. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  24. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. face — to confront
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. court — of law
  6. court — for sport
  7. patient — calm and waiting
  8. land — to come down
  9. rush — hurry
  10. face — part of the head
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. land — ground
  13. pop — to visit
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. bark — of a tree
  16. pop — music
  17. face — to point toward
  18. court — of a king
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. pop — soda
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. patient — a sick person
  23. bark — to shout
  24. land — a country

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