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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. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  2. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  3. The kitchen ________________ is next to the microwave.
  4. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  5. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  8. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  9. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  10. Every pianist practices the C major ________________.
  11. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  14. The ________________ market has crashed.
  15. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  16. Nobody expected a disaster on this ________________.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  21. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  22. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  23. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  24. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.

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

Answer key

  1. wind — to turn a key
  2. lash — to lash out
  3. scale — for weighing
  4. lash — a whip stroke
  5. wind — moving air
  6. field — farmland
  7. wind — moving air
  8. field — for sport
  9. field — a subject
  10. scale — in music
  11. patient — a sick person
  12. cell — a phone
  13. content — the amount
  14. stock — shares
  15. stock — goods
  16. scale — size or range
  17. content — happy
  18. cell — in a prison
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. content — videos and posts
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. stock — a soup base
  23. cell — in biology
  24. patient — calm and waiting

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