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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 ball hit the back of the ________________.
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  4. That must've been a ________________.
  5. My stomach aches so much that I can't ________________ asleep.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  10. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. He was locked up in a ________________.
  13. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  16. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  17. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  18. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  19. He who climbs up, will ________________ down.
  20. In the ________________, covers are put over the fans in trains.
  21. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  22. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  23. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  24. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.

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

Answer key

  1. net — in sport
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. pit — in a race
  4. rush — a thrill
  5. fall — to drop
  6. field — farmland
  7. net — after costs
  8. rush — hurry
  9. capital — money
  10. rush — to hurry
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. cell — in a prison
  13. pit — a hole
  14. field — for sport
  15. field — a subject
  16. pit — a fruit stone
  17. net — for catching
  18. cell — a phone
  19. fall — to drop
  20. fall — the season
  21. capital — a city
  22. cell — in biology
  23. lash — to lash out
  24. capital — a big letter

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