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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  7. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  10. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  13. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  14. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  15. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  18. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  19. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  20. When are we going to ________________?
  21. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  22. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  23. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. land — ground
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. row — to paddle
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. fan — to cool the air
  7. field — for sport
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. chip — to eat
  10. bass — the fish
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. field — farmland
  13. bass — the instrument
  14. chip — for betting
  15. fan — a supporter
  16. field — a subject
  17. land — a country
  18. row — a line
  19. bat — the animal
  20. land — to come down
  21. row — a quarrel
  22. bat — in an idiom
  23. bass — low music
  24. lash — an eyelash

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