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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. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  5. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  6. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  7. He is an ace ________________.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  15. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  16. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  17. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  18. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  19. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  20. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The kitten curled into a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a great time
  2. land — to come down
  3. ball — a dance
  4. prune — to trim
  5. kid — child
  6. content — happy
  7. pitcher — in baseball
  8. content — the amount
  9. land — a country
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. land — ground
  12. prune — the fruit
  13. field — for sport
  14. pitcher — a jug
  15. kid — to tease
  16. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  17. field — farmland
  18. lash — to lash out
  19. prune — to trim
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. field — a subject
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. ball — a round shape

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

Make a worksheet (0 words)

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