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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: field · present · lash · dip · net · pop · chip · hand

  1. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  2. You don't need to ________________ round.
  3. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  4. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  7. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  10. Michael Jackson and Prince changed the history of ________________ music.
  11. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  12. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  15. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  16. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  17. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  18. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  19. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  20. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  21. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  22. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  23. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  24. We're almost out of ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. hand — help
  2. pop — to visit
  3. dip — a sauce
  4. lash — to lash out
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. net — for catching
  7. hand — in cards
  8. field — farmland
  9. present — there
  10. pop — music
  11. net — in sport
  12. field — a subject
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. dip — to sink
  15. net — after costs
  16. chip — to eat
  17. lash — an eyelash
  18. present — a gift
  19. field — for sport
  20. chip — for betting
  21. lash — a whip stroke
  22. dip — to dunk
  23. present — the time now
  24. pop — soda

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