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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. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  10. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  16. David sat on the ________________.
  17. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  20. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  21. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  22. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  23. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  24. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. fall — the season
  2. net — in sport
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. hand — in cards
  5. net — for catching
  6. net — after costs
  7. swing — music
  8. hand — help
  9. wax — to grow
  10. lash — a whip stroke
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. fall — to drop
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. shower — a meteor shower
  16. swing — to play on
  17. shower — rain
  18. field — a subject
  19. swing — in golf
  20. fall — to drop
  21. wax — for sculpting
  22. hand — part of the body
  23. shower — to wash
  24. wax — in the ear

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