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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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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: ball · spring · lash · wound · current · patient · saw · row

  1. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  5. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. He works in a ________________ mill.
  8. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  9. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  10. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  13. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  14. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. She's very handy with a ________________.
  17. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  18. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  19. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  20. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  21. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  22. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. spring — the season
  2. ball — a great time
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. ball — a round shape
  5. current — electric
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. saw — the tool
  8. wound — an injury
  9. current — of water
  10. patient — a sick person
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. spring — of water
  13. patient — a sick person
  14. row — a line
  15. ball — a dance
  16. saw — the tool
  17. wound — an injury
  18. patient — calm and waiting
  19. spring — a coil
  20. current — happening now
  21. saw — past of 'see'
  22. row — a quarrel
  23. row — to paddle
  24. lash — an eyelash

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