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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  2. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  3. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  4. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  5. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  6. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The train was so full that I had to ________________ all the while.
  9. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I can't ________________ this cold.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. A smaller training pitch was installed beside the main ________________.
  16. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  17. Have you settled on a ________________?
  18. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  21. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  22. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. bat — the animal
  2. wake — before a funeral
  3. bat — in an idiom
  4. squash — the vegetable
  5. wake — a trail
  6. lash — an eyelash
  7. field — farmland
  8. stand — on your feet
  9. field — for sport
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. stand — to bear
  12. field — a subject
  13. squash — to crush
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. stand — for spectators
  16. squash — the sport
  17. date — on the calendar
  18. content — the amount
  19. content — happy
  20. wake — to stop sleeping
  21. lash — to lash out
  22. date — the fruit
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. date — on the calendar

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