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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. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. The tickets are free of ________________.
  5. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  6. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  10. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  11. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  12. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  13. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. cold — an illness
  3. field — a subject
  4. charge — a price
  5. fine — all right
  6. wound — past of 'wind'
  7. field — for sport
  8. wound — an injury
  9. wake — a trail
  10. stick — to attach or keep to
  11. cold — the Cold War
  12. fine — high quality
  13. wake — before a funeral
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. charge — electricity
  16. cold — not warm
  17. charge — in control
  18. wound — an injury
  19. field — farmland
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. fine — a penalty
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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