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

  1. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  4. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  5. Have you settled on a ________________?
  6. We're on a ________________ here.
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  10. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  13. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  14. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  15. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  16. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  24. Did you ________________ the meat?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. band — a ring
  4. deal — a big deal
  5. date — on the calendar
  6. roll — on a roll
  7. band — a music group
  8. court — for sport
  9. court — of law
  10. roll — a cake
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. season — of the year
  13. roll — a list
  14. court — of a king
  15. band — a rubber band
  16. date — the fruit
  17. bat — the animal
  18. date — on the calendar
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. deal — to handle
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. season — in sport
  24. season — to add flavour

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