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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: season · land · snap · lash · row · ball · field · ground

  1. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  2. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  3. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  4. There's no middle ________________.
  5. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  8. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  9. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  12. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  13. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  14. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  15. The King held a masked ________________.
  16. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  17. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  18. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  19. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. When are we going to ________________?
  22. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  23. Did you ________________ the meat?
  24. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.

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

Answer key

  1. ball — a round shape
  2. land — a country
  3. season — in sport
  4. ground — a position
  5. lash — a whip stroke
  6. field — a subject
  7. ball — a great time
  8. land — ground
  9. field — farmland
  10. ground — crushed
  11. lash — an eyelash
  12. row — a quarrel
  13. snap — to snap out of it
  14. ground — the earth
  15. ball — a dance
  16. season — of the year
  17. field — for sport
  18. snap — to click
  19. row — a line
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. land — to come down
  22. row — to paddle
  23. season — to add flavour
  24. snap — to speak sharply

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