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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. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  4. David sat on the ________________.
  5. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. We're almost out of ________________.
  9. You don't need to ________________ round.
  10. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  11. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  12. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  13. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  16. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  17. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  18. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  21. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  22. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  23. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  24. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.

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. bat — the animal
  4. swing — to play on
  5. dip — a sauce
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. field — a subject
  8. pop — soda
  9. pop — to visit
  10. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  11. swing — music
  12. march — the month
  13. pop — music
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. bat — for baseball
  16. dip — to sink
  17. dip — to dunk
  18. march — music
  19. field — for sport
  20. kid — child
  21. bat — in an idiom
  22. march — the month
  23. field — farmland
  24. swing — in golf

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