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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. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  6. Grandma has made a Swiss ________________.
  7. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  8. Here is a list of ________________ job openings.
  9. We're on a ________________ here.
  10. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  11. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  12. Let us try to swim against the ________________.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  15. The teacher called the ________________ to see who was absent.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  20. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  23. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  24. Wood does not conduct electric ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. drill — a practice
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. bat — the animal
  5. field — farmland
  6. roll — a cake
  7. lash — an eyelash
  8. current — happening now
  9. roll — on a roll
  10. tear — from crying
  11. chip — in a computer
  12. current — of water
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. tear — to rip
  15. roll — a list
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. tear — from crying
  18. drill — the tool
  19. field — a subject
  20. bat — for baseball
  21. field — for sport
  22. drill — army training
  23. chip — for betting
  24. current — electric

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