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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 · lash · sharp · wind · arm · kick · field · deal

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. I'd give my right ________________ to be ambidextrous.
  3. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  4. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  5. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  6. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  7. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  8. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  9. The King held a masked ________________.
  10. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  11. My father caught me by the ________________.
  12. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. It's one o'clock ________________.
  17. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  18. She sat on the ________________ of the sofa.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  21. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  22. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  23. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  24. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. arm — part of the body
  3. kick — a thrill
  4. deal — to handle
  5. sharp — clever
  6. field — farmland
  7. wind — to turn a key
  8. deal — a big deal
  9. ball — a dance
  10. field — for sport
  11. arm — part of the body
  12. ball — a great time
  13. field — a subject
  14. deal — an agreement
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. sharp — exactly
  17. kick — with a leg
  18. arm — a part of something
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. sharp — with an edge
  21. kick — in football
  22. lash — an eyelash
  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