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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. That was a fun ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  8. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  12. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  20. It's one o'clock ________________.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. game — a match
  3. hand — in cards
  4. swing — to play on
  5. game — wild animals
  6. field — a subject
  7. content — the amount
  8. calf — a young animal
  9. swing — in golf
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. calf — of the leg
  12. calf — a young animal
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. game — a kind of play
  15. content — happy
  16. sharp — with an edge
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. field — for sport
  19. sharp — clever
  20. sharp — exactly
  21. field — farmland
  22. hand — help
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. swing — music

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