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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 asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  2. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. The ________________ market has crashed.
  5. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  6. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  12. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. There's no middle ________________.
  15. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  16. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  19. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  20. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  21. When was this ________________ built?
  22. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — magic
  2. last — finally
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. stock — shares
  5. last — final
  6. stock — a soup base
  7. ground — crushed
  8. spell — letters
  9. last — to go on
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. temple — side of the head
  12. temple — a place of worship
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. ground — a position
  15. field — farmland
  16. stock — goods
  17. field — a subject
  18. wound — an injury
  19. ground — the earth
  20. spell — a short time
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. wound — an injury
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. field — for sport

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