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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. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  6. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  9. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  10. False peace will not ________________.
  11. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  12. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  16. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  17. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  18. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  19. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  20. We're almost out of ________________.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. You don't need to ________________ round.

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

Answer key

  1. last — finally
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. field — farmland
  4. field — for sport
  5. bass — the instrument
  6. shower — a meteor shower
  7. fork — in a road
  8. fork — to eat with
  9. shower — rain
  10. last — to go on
  11. chest — of your body
  12. pop — music
  13. field — a subject
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. chest — of your body
  16. bass — low music
  17. last — final
  18. fork — a garden tool
  19. chest — a box
  20. pop — soda
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. bass — the fish
  23. shower — to wash
  24. pop — to visit

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