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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 · swing · suit · bark · hand · toast · spell · lash

  1. How do you ________________ your surname?
  2. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  3. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  4. The cuffs of his ________________ jacket are badly frayed.
  5. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  6. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  7. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  11. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  12. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  13. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. Positive actions can inspire others to follow ________________.
  16. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  22. David sat on the ________________.
  23. When will it ________________ you to start?
  24. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.

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

Answer key

  1. spell — letters
  2. hand — part of the body
  3. hand — in cards
  4. suit — clothes
  5. toast — a drink to someone
  6. toast — bread
  7. bark — to shout
  8. hand — help
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. toast — the most admired
  11. field — a subject
  12. bark — a dog's sound
  13. field — for sport
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. suit — in cards
  16. bark — of a tree
  17. spell — magic
  18. field — farmland
  19. swing — music
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. swing — in golf
  22. swing — to play on
  23. suit — to fit
  24. spell — a short time

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