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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 124 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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  3. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  4. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. There's no middle ________________.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  13. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  14. That must've been a ________________.
  15. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  16. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  17. The ball is in your ________________.
  18. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  19. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  20. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  21. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  22. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  23. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  24. False peace will not ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. chair — a professorship
  3. chair — to sit on
  4. rush — to hurry
  5. field — farmland
  6. field — a subject
  7. ground — a position
  8. field — for sport
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. last — final
  12. rush — hurry
  13. court — of law
  14. rush — a thrill
  15. hand — help
  16. chair — a leader
  17. court — for sport
  18. hand — in cards
  19. hand — part of the body
  20. court — of a king
  21. ground — the earth
  22. last — finally
  23. ground — crushed
  24. last — to go on

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