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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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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: bat · lash · ground · wound · content · tear · chair · bound

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  5. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  6. James Baker serves as an Honorary Co-________________ for the World Justice Project.
  7. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  8. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  9. We are ________________ to obey laws.
  10. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  11. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. He reached out and took down a small leather ________________ book.
  14. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. That was ________________ to happen.
  17. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  18. I put the bag on or beside the ________________.
  19. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  20. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  21. Professor Sir Peter Hirsch formerly held the ________________.
  22. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  23. There's no middle ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. lash — an eyelash
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. bat — the animal
  5. wound — past of 'wind'
  6. chair — a leader
  7. ground — the earth
  8. bat — for baseball
  9. bound — obliged
  10. tear — from crying
  11. tear — to rip
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. bound — tied together
  14. content — videos and posts
  15. ground — crushed
  16. bound — certain
  17. content — happy
  18. chair — to sit on
  19. wound — an injury
  20. content — the amount
  21. chair — a professorship
  22. tear — from crying
  23. ground — a position
  24. bat — in an idiom

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