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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. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. It's one o'clock ________________.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  13. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.

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

Answer key

  1. mine — belonging to me
  2. field — a subject
  3. sharp — with an edge
  4. prune — to trim
  5. sharp — clever
  6. sharp — exactly
  7. field — farmland
  8. prune — the fruit
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. mine — an explosive
  11. field — for sport
  12. bat — the animal
  13. mine — for digging
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. bat — for baseball
  17. prune — to trim
  18. lash — to lash out

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