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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 ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  10. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  11. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  12. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  18. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. That must've been a ________________.
  23. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  24. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. bat — for baseball
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. wake — a trail
  4. field — a subject
  5. wound — an injury
  6. net — after costs
  7. wound — past of 'wind'
  8. content — the amount
  9. rush — to hurry
  10. bat — in an idiom
  11. bat — the animal
  12. net — in sport
  13. field — for sport
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. rush — hurry
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. wake — before a funeral
  18. wound — an injury
  19. net — for catching
  20. field — farmland
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. rush — a thrill
  23. wake — to stop sleeping
  24. content — happy

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