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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 116 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 felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  4. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  5. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  6. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  16. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  17. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  18. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  24. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bore — gave birth
  4. bass — the fish
  5. content — happy
  6. shower — rain
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. shower — to wash
  9. field — farmland
  10. bore — to drill
  11. kid — child
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. field — a subject
  14. field — for sport
  15. content — the amount
  16. bass — the instrument
  17. bore — to tire
  18. shower — a meteor shower
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bass — low music
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. game — a match
  23. game — a kind of play
  24. kid — young goat (kid gloves)

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