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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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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 · ground · field · charge · racket · kid · swing · lash

  1. The King held a masked ________________.
  2. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  3. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  4. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  7. The tickets are free of ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  10. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  11. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. David sat on the ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a dance
  2. swing — music
  3. field — for sport
  4. ball — a great time
  5. field — a subject
  6. charge — electricity
  7. charge — a price
  8. field — farmland
  9. swing — in golf
  10. racket — for tennis
  11. kid — child
  12. ground — a position
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. kid — to tease
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. charge — in control
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. ground — crushed
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. swing — to play on
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. ground — the earth
  24. racket — a loud noise

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