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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. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  2. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  3. Don't do anything ________________.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. That was a fun ________________.
  8. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  9. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  10. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  11. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  12. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  13. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  14. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  15. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  16. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  17. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  20. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  23. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  24. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.

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

Answer key

  1. rash — on the skin
  2. trunk — of a car
  3. rash — hasty
  4. field — for sport
  5. bat — for baseball
  6. rash — a series
  7. game — a match
  8. game — a kind of play
  9. fine — high quality
  10. field — farmland
  11. mark — to pay attention
  12. trunk — of an elephant
  13. fine — a penalty
  14. mark — a trace
  15. fine — all right
  16. mark — a grade
  17. lash — to lash out
  18. field — a subject
  19. game — wild animals
  20. bat — in an idiom
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. trunk — of a tree
  23. lash — an eyelash
  24. bat — the animal

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