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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  3. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  8. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  9. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  10. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. The ________________ took off on time.
  16. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  17. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  18. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  21. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  22. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. leaves — to go away
  3. present — a gift
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. squash — the sport
  6. present — there
  7. leaves — lets stay
  8. file — a line of people
  9. file — a tool
  10. squash — the vegetable
  11. net — in sport
  12. field — farmland
  13. file — a document
  14. field — a subject
  15. plane — an aircraft
  16. leaves — of a tree
  17. present — the time now
  18. squash — to crush
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. net — for catching
  21. net — after costs
  22. plane — in geometry
  23. plane — a tool
  24. field — for sport

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