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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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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. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  2. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Did you ________________ the meat?
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Have you found your soul ________________?
  14. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  15. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  16. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  17. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  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. season — of the year
  2. band — a rubber band
  3. field — farmland
  4. hand — in cards
  5. lash — an eyelash
  6. band — a music group
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. hand — help
  9. season — to add flavour
  10. band — a ring
  11. field — a subject
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. mate — a partner
  14. season — in sport
  15. mate — to breed
  16. hand — part of the body
  17. mate — a friend
  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