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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  6. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  15. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  16. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  19. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  22. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. field — farmland
  3. hand — part of the body
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. chip — to eat
  6. wound — an injury
  7. hand — in cards
  8. chip — in a computer
  9. lean — to bend
  10. field — a subject
  11. court — for sport
  12. lean — thin
  13. court — of a king
  14. court — of law
  15. chip — for betting
  16. stick — a piece of wood
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. wound — past of 'wind'
  19. wound — an injury
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. stick — to attach or keep to
  22. stick — a piece of wood
  23. field — for sport
  24. lean — to rest against

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