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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  3. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  8. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  9. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  10. In geometry, a flat surface is called a ________________.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The ________________ took off on time.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  19. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  20. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. The carpenter used a ________________ to smooth the door.
  24. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. firm — decided
  3. kid — to tease
  4. field — for sport
  5. kick — with a leg
  6. field — a subject
  7. firm — a company
  8. cold — an illness
  9. kick — in football
  10. plane — in geometry
  11. content — happy
  12. content — videos and posts
  13. field — farmland
  14. plane — an aircraft
  15. content — the amount
  16. kid — child
  17. cold — not warm
  18. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  19. cold — the Cold War
  20. firm — steady
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. plane — a tool
  24. kick — a thrill

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