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

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. When are we going to ________________?
  12. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  13. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  14. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  15. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. cap — a lid
  4. field — a subject
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. cell — in biology
  8. field — farmland
  9. cap — a hat
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. land — to come down
  12. cap — of ice
  13. land — a country
  14. content — happy
  15. land — ground
  16. content — the amount
  17. cell — a phone
  18. field — for sport

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