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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 · land · bat · tear · season · content · stick · lash

  1. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  2. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  3. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  4. Fiction is obliged to ________________ to possibilities. Truth isn't.
  5. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  6. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  7. It is only in accepting others that we can ________________ down our own barriers.
  8. When are we going to ________________?
  9. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  10. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  11. Drying a ________________ is more honorable than shedding torrents of blood.
  12. The King held a masked ________________.
  13. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  14. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Did you ________________ the meat?
  17. I cannot shed a ________________ for that horrible man.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. Speak softly and carry a big ________________.
  20. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  21. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  22. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  23. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  24. This is the first time I've ever walked with a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. land — ground
  2. content — the amount
  3. content — videos and posts
  4. stick — to attach or keep to
  5. land — a country
  6. season — of the year
  7. tear — to rip
  8. land — to come down
  9. lash — to lash out
  10. bat — the animal
  11. tear — from crying
  12. ball — a dance
  13. bat — in an idiom
  14. lash — a whip stroke
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. season — to add flavour
  17. tear — from crying
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. stick — a piece of wood
  20. ball — a round shape
  21. season — in sport
  22. content — happy
  23. ball — a great time
  24. stick — a piece of wood

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