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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: can · lash · bowl · bat · kick · field · snap · band

  1. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  2. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  3. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.
  4. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  5. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Tom opened a ________________ of soup.
  8. Recycle the empty soda ________________.
  9. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  10. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  11. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  12. ________________ you help me carry this box?
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  15. They were given a penalty ________________ just minutes from the end.
  16. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I get a ________________ out of her cheerful personality.
  19. One ________________ from a giraffe's hind leg is enough to kill a lion.
  20. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  23. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  24. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.

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

Answer key

  1. band — a ring
  2. snap — to speak sharply
  3. snap — to snap out of it
  4. snap — to click
  5. field — a subject
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. can — a tin
  8. can — a tin
  9. lash — an eyelash
  10. bowl — to roll
  11. band — a rubber band
  12. can — to be able to
  13. field — farmland
  14. field — for sport
  15. kick — in football
  16. lash — to lash out
  17. bat — the animal
  18. kick — a thrill
  19. kick — with a leg
  20. bowl — a football final
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. band — a music group
  23. lash — a whip stroke
  24. bat — in an idiom

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