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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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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: content · lash · staff · field · wound · stick · cell · bound

  1. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. He was locked up in a ________________.
  4. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  5. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  6. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  7. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  8. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  9. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  10. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.
  11. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  12. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  13. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  14. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  15. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  16. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  17. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  18. That was ________________ to happen.
  19. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  20. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  21. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  22. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  23. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  24. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.

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

Answer key

  1. content — the amount
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. cell — in a prison
  4. staff — employees
  5. stick — a piece of wood
  6. staff — employees
  7. field — a subject
  8. staff — a stick
  9. cell — in biology
  10. stick — a piece of wood
  11. bound — tied together
  12. bound — obliged
  13. lash — a whip stroke
  14. lash — to lash out
  15. wound — past of 'wind'
  16. wound — an injury
  17. content — videos and posts
  18. bound — certain
  19. content — happy
  20. wound — an injury
  21. field — for sport
  22. field — farmland
  23. cell — a phone
  24. stick — to attach or keep to

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