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

Word bank: lash · chest · bat · board · fork · patient · cold · bulb

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  6. The water is too ________________.
  7. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  8. The captain is giving the order to ________________ the ship.
  9. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  10. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  11. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  12. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  13. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. I've got to change the light ________________.
  17. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  18. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  19. ________________ games are popular in Germany.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The light ________________ burned out.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. I'm currently on the ________________ of directors.
  24. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. cold — an illness
  3. bulb — of a plant
  4. bat — the animal
  5. fork — a garden tool
  6. cold — not warm
  7. cold — the Cold War
  8. board — to get on
  9. patient — calm and waiting
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. bat — for baseball
  12. patient — a sick person
  13. fork — to eat with
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bulb — for light
  17. chest — a box
  18. chest — of your body
  19. board — a flat piece
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. bulb — for light
  22. chest — of your body
  23. board — a committee
  24. fork — in a road

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