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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: court · bat · mine · file · mug · fork · field · lash

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  3. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  4. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  10. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  11. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  12. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  16. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  17. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  18. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  19. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  20. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  21. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  24. Where did you ________________ them?

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. bat — for baseball
  3. field — farmland
  4. mug — a face
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. fork — to eat with
  8. court — for sport
  9. fork — in a road
  10. mine — for digging
  11. lash — a whip stroke
  12. court — of law
  13. court — of a king
  14. file — a line of people
  15. file — a document
  16. lash — an eyelash
  17. field — a subject
  18. mug — a cup
  19. fork — a garden tool
  20. file — a tool
  21. mine — belonging to me
  22. field — for sport
  23. bat — the animal
  24. mug — to rob

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