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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: land · ball · straw · pitcher · dip · content · lash · charge

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. When are we going to ________________?
  3. He is an ace ________________.
  4. Jason, who was in ________________ of the project, was dismissed for corruption.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. The King held a masked ________________.
  7. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  8. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  9. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  10. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  11. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  12. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  13. The tickets are free of ________________.
  14. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  15. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  16. Where can I ________________ my mobile?
  17. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  18. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  19. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  20. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  21. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. land — to come down
  3. pitcher — in baseball
  4. charge — in control
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. ball — a dance
  7. straw — to clutch at straws
  8. straw — a straw man
  9. dip — to dunk
  10. content — videos and posts
  11. land — ground
  12. dip — to sink
  13. charge — a price
  14. dip — a sauce
  15. content — happy
  16. charge — electricity
  17. content — the amount
  18. pitcher — a jug
  19. straw — dry grass
  20. pitcher — a jug
  21. ball — a round shape
  22. lash — an eyelash
  23. land — a country
  24. ball — a great 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