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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: club · wound · lean · court · lash · bat · mug · field

  1. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  2. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  8. The ball is in your ________________.
  9. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  10. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  13. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  14. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  15. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  16. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  17. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  18. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  19. Where did you ________________ them?
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  23. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  24. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.

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

Answer key

  1. club — for golf
  2. bat — the animal
  3. lean — thin
  4. wound — an injury
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. field — farmland
  8. court — for sport
  9. lean — to bend
  10. mug — a face
  11. field — for sport
  12. court — of a king
  13. lean — to rest against
  14. wound — an injury
  15. lash — a whip stroke
  16. field — a subject
  17. club — for dancing
  18. court — of law
  19. mug — to rob
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. wound — past of 'wind'
  23. mug — a cup
  24. club — a group

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