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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. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  4. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  7. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  8. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  9. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  10. The King held a masked ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  14. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  15. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  16. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.
  17. The water is too ________________.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  20. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  21. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  22. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  23. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  24. Do you need a ________________ with that?

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. field — farmland
  3. lash — an eyelash
  4. hand — in cards
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. trunk — of a car
  7. ball — a round shape
  8. ball — a great time
  9. cold — the Cold War
  10. ball — a dance
  11. march — the month
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. hand — part of the body
  14. current — of water
  15. current — happening now
  16. current — electric
  17. cold — not warm
  18. field — a subject
  19. march — the month
  20. march — music
  21. cold — an illness
  22. trunk — of an elephant
  23. trunk — of a tree
  24. hand — help

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