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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. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. That was a fun ________________.
  6. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  7. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  10. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  11. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  12. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  13. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  14. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. Have you found your soul ________________?
  18. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  22. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  23. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  24. A ________________ is just a dried plum.

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

Answer key

  1. game — wild animals
  2. field — for sport
  3. firm — a company
  4. wound — an injury
  5. game — a match
  6. firm — steady
  7. bat — for baseball
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. firm — decided
  10. wound — an injury
  11. wound — past of 'wind'
  12. prune — to trim
  13. prune — to trim
  14. field — a subject
  15. field — farmland
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. mate — a partner
  18. mate — a friend
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. bat — the animal
  22. game — a kind of play
  23. mate — to breed
  24. prune — the fruit

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