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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 116 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: shower · last · field · lash · spell · ball · file · chip

  1. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  2. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. The King held a masked ________________.
  5. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  8. False peace will not ________________.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. How do you ________________ your surname?
  11. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  12. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  13. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  16. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  17. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  18. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  19. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  20. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  23. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  24. He's taking a ________________ right now.

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

Answer key

  1. chip — to eat
  2. ball — a great time
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. ball — a dance
  5. spell — magic
  6. field — farmland
  7. file — a tool
  8. last — to go on
  9. last — final
  10. spell — letters
  11. file — a line of people
  12. last — finally
  13. file — a document
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. shower — rain
  16. spell — a short time
  17. chip — in a computer
  18. ball — a round shape
  19. lash — a whip stroke
  20. shower — a meteor shower
  21. chip — for betting
  22. field — for sport
  23. field — a subject
  24. shower — to wash

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