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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.

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: ball · temple · clip · cold · spell · rash · lash · field

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  4. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  5. How do you ________________ your surname?
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. The King held a masked ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  13. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. When was this ________________ built?
  16. Don't do anything ________________.
  17. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  18. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  19. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  22. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  23. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  24. The spa offers ________________ extensions.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rash — a series
  4. field — a subject
  5. spell — letters
  6. cold — an illness
  7. ball — a dance
  8. cold — not warm
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. spell — a short time
  11. spell — magic
  12. lash — to lash out
  13. cold — the Cold War
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. temple — a place of worship
  16. rash — hasty
  17. ball — a great time
  18. clip — for paper
  19. field — farmland
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. temple — a place of worship
  22. clip — a video
  23. temple — side of the head
  24. lash — an eyelash

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