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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. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  4. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  5. A ________________ is a veil over the lips.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  8. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  9. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  10. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  11. The water is too ________________.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  15. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. The hunter does not ________________ down with the prey.
  18. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  19. When are we going to ________________?
  20. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  21. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  22. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  23. How do you ________________ your surname?
  24. Is it always a sin to tell a ________________?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. spell — a short time
  3. band — a rubber band
  4. field — for sport
  5. lie — an untruth
  6. field — farmland
  7. land — ground
  8. lash — an eyelash
  9. land — a country
  10. band — a ring
  11. cold — not warm
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. sharp — clever
  15. band — a music group
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. lie — to recline
  18. field — a subject
  19. land — to come down
  20. cold — an illness
  21. spell — magic
  22. sharp — with an edge
  23. spell — letters
  24. lie — an untruth

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