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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 old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  4. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  5. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  6. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  7. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  8. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  13. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  16. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  17. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  20. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  21. That was ________________ to happen.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Have you found your soul ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. field — a subject
  3. staff — employees
  4. mine — belonging to me
  5. mate — to breed
  6. bound — obliged
  7. mine — an explosive
  8. mine — for digging
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. field — farmland
  11. bound — tied together
  12. wound — an injury
  13. mate — a friend
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. wound — an injury
  16. wound — past of 'wind'
  17. snap — to click
  18. staff — employees
  19. snap — to speak sharply
  20. snap — to snap out of it
  21. bound — certain
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. field — for sport
  24. mate — a partner

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