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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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Word bank
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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. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  4. You can't play pool without a ________________ stick.
  5. I'll take my ________________ from you.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. Our bank has a ________________ near the station.
  10. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Don't do anything ________________.
  13. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  16. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  17. When I cough twice, that's your ________________ to come into the room.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  20. He chopped down the ________________ with an ax.
  21. Biology is a ________________ of science.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. kid — to tease
  3. bass — the fish
  4. cue — for pool
  5. cue — a hint
  6. hand — in cards
  7. lash — to lash out
  8. field — for sport
  9. branch — of a bank
  10. rash — a series
  11. field — farmland
  12. rash — hasty
  13. kid — child
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  16. rash — on the skin
  17. cue — a signal
  18. field — a subject
  19. bass — the instrument
  20. branch — of a tree
  21. branch — a division
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. hand — part of the body
  24. bass — low music

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