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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: wind · ground · fan · straw · deal · court · lash · field

  1. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  2. The ball is in your ________________.
  3. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  4. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  5. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  6. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  7. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  8. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  9. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  10. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  11. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  12. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  13. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  14. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  15. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  16. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  17. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  18. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  19. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  20. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  21. There's no middle ________________.
  22. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  23. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  24. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — an eyelash
  2. court — for sport
  3. court — of law
  4. straw — to clutch at straws
  5. straw — a straw man
  6. deal — to handle
  7. lash — a whip stroke
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. wind — to turn a key
  10. ground — the earth
  11. straw — dry grass
  12. field — for sport
  13. lash — to lash out
  14. deal — a big deal
  15. fan — to cool the air
  16. deal — an agreement
  17. ground — crushed
  18. field — farmland
  19. fan — a supporter
  20. field — a subject
  21. ground — a position
  22. court — of a king
  23. wind — moving air
  24. wind — moving air

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