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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. Have you found your soul ________________?
  2. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  9. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. What do you think of the new ________________?
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  14. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  15. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  16. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  19. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  20. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  21. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  22. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. mate — a partner
  2. mate — to breed
  3. field — a subject
  4. tear — to rip
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. mate — a friend
  7. band — a music group
  8. bat — in an idiom
  9. cabinet — ministers
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. cabinet — ministers
  12. field — farmland
  13. bat — for baseball
  14. bat — the animal
  15. field — for sport
  16. calf — a young animal
  17. tear — from crying
  18. band — a rubber band
  19. band — a ring
  20. tear — from crying
  21. calf — a young animal
  22. calf — of the leg
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. cabinet — a cupboard

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