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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 120 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. What do you think of the new ________________?
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Thanks to his efforts, he attained his ________________.
  4. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  5. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  6. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  9. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. She took a metal box from the top of the kitchen ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. Why would I ________________ to a disabled ramp?
  14. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  15. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  16. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  17. A valuable ________________ decreases in value if it is damaged.
  18. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. In all probability, the ________________ will fall.
  21. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  24. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.

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

Answer key

  1. cabinet — ministers
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. object — an aim
  4. spring — a coil
  5. content — videos and posts
  6. lash — a whip stroke
  7. field — a subject
  8. spring — of water
  9. spring — the season
  10. field — for sport
  11. cabinet — a cupboard
  12. content — happy
  13. object — to protest
  14. mark — a grade
  15. mark — a trace
  16. bat — in an idiom
  17. object — a thing
  18. bat — the animal
  19. field — farmland
  20. cabinet — ministers
  21. mark — to pay attention
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. content — the amount
  24. bat — for baseball

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