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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. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  2. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  3. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  6. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  9. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  10. Have you settled on a ________________?
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  15. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  16. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  17. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  18. The ________________ went through the wall.
  19. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  20. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  21. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  24. He took the fish out of the ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. stick — a piece of wood
  2. net — after costs
  3. nail — on a finger
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. hand — help
  6. deal — a big deal
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. hand — in cards
  9. deal — to handle
  10. date — on the calendar
  11. field — a subject
  12. nail — for a hammer
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. date — the fruit
  15. stick — a piece of wood
  16. field — for sport
  17. net — in sport
  18. nail — for a hammer
  19. deal — an agreement
  20. stick — to attach or keep to
  21. field — farmland
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. date — on the calendar
  24. net — for catching

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