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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. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  2. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  9. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  14. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  15. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. He is an ace ________________.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  20. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. staff — a stick
  2. staff — employees
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. pitcher — a jug
  5. field — farmland
  6. net — for catching
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. net — after costs
  9. racket — for tennis
  10. row — to paddle
  11. pitch — a sports field
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. row — a quarrel
  14. pitch — a sales talk
  15. racket — for tennis
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. pitcher — in baseball
  18. row — a line
  19. net — in sport
  20. pitch — completely
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — a subject
  23. staff — employees
  24. racket — a loud noise

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