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

Word bank: dip · tear · lash · bore · cell · field · content · racket

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  6. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  7. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  8. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  9. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. He was locked up in a ________________.
  18. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  19. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  20. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. field — a subject
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. content — happy
  5. lash — to lash out
  6. tear — to rip
  7. bore — to drill
  8. content — the amount
  9. bore — to tire
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. tear — from crying
  12. dip — to sink
  13. bore — gave birth
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. tear — from crying
  16. field — farmland
  17. cell — in a prison
  18. dip — to dunk
  19. racket — for tennis
  20. cell — a phone
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. racket — a loud noise
  23. field — for sport
  24. cell — in biology

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