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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  4. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  5. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. The light ________________ burned out.
  8. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  9. False peace will not ________________.
  10. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  13. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  14. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  15. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  16. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  19. I've got to change the light ________________.
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.
  22. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  23. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  24. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. last — finally
  4. pound — to hit hard
  5. perch — the fish
  6. field — farmland
  7. bulb — for light
  8. last — final
  9. last — to go on
  10. wind — moving air
  11. field — for sport
  12. wind — moving air
  13. spring — the season
  14. pound — for dogs
  15. perch — for a bird
  16. spring — of water
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. spring — a coil
  19. bulb — for light
  20. field — a subject
  21. bulb — of a plant
  22. perch — for a bird
  23. pound — a weight
  24. wind — to turn a key

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