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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. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  3. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  4. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  5. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  6. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  7. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  12. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  13. The players ran onto the football ________________.
  14. I've got to change the light ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The light ________________ burned out.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  23. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  24. Plant the tulip ________________ before the first frost.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. wound — past of 'wind'
  3. wound — an injury
  4. pitch — completely
  5. row — a quarrel
  6. pitch — a sales talk
  7. ground — crushed
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. wound — an injury
  10. field — a subject
  11. ground — the earth
  12. prune — to trim
  13. pitch — a sports field
  14. bulb — for light
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. prune — to trim
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. field — for sport
  19. field — farmland
  20. bulb — for light
  21. ground — a position
  22. row — a line
  23. row — to paddle
  24. bulb — of a plant

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