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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  6. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  7. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. We're almost out of ________________.
  10. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  11. Many English words ________________ from Latin.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  14. Scientists study ________________ cells to repair damaged tissue.
  15. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  16. You don't need to ________________ round.
  17. The King held a masked ________________.
  18. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  19. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  20. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The big green plant was starting to droop at the ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. ball — a great time
  4. content — happy
  5. degree — an amount
  6. bank — of a river
  7. bank — for money
  8. net — after costs
  9. pop — soda
  10. content — the amount
  11. stem — to come from
  12. net — in sport
  13. net — for catching
  14. stem — a stem cell
  15. pop — music
  16. pop — to visit
  17. ball — a dance
  18. bank — for money
  19. degree — from a university
  20. degree — temperature
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. stem — of a plant
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. ball — a round shape

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