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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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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: bowl · wind · chip · field · row · lash · mine · rest

  1. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  2. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  3. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  4. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  5. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  6. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  7. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  8. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  9. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  10. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  13. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  14. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  15. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  16. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  19. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  20. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  21. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  22. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  23. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

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

Answer key

  1. row — a line
  2. field — farmland
  3. chip — for betting
  4. wind — moving air
  5. rest — a break
  6. chip — in a computer
  7. bowl — a football final
  8. row — a quarrel
  9. wind — moving air
  10. row — to paddle
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. chip — to eat
  13. field — a subject
  14. bowl — to roll
  15. wind — to turn a key
  16. lash — a whip stroke
  17. field — for sport
  18. mine — belonging to me
  19. lash — to lash out
  20. rest — what's left
  21. mine — for digging
  22. bowl — a dish
  23. mine — an explosive
  24. rest — what's left

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