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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.

Words on the sheet
468
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: swing · field · prune · content · lash · bark · hand · row

  1. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  2. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  3. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  4. The girl drawing a picture in the first ________________ is my niece.
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  8. Do not ________________ roses in the fall.
  9. We had to ________________ the boat across the lake.
  10. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  11. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  12. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  13. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. A ________________ is just a dried plum.
  16. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  17. I cannot ________________ this tree. It's too high.
  18. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  19. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  20. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  21. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  22. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  23. I had a ________________ with my boss today.
  24. I got dealt a bad ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. field — for sport
  2. content — videos and posts
  3. content — the amount
  4. row — a line
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. field — a subject
  7. hand — help
  8. prune — to trim
  9. row — to paddle
  10. bark — to shout
  11. content — happy
  12. lash — a whip stroke
  13. field — farmland
  14. swing — to play on
  15. prune — the fruit
  16. swing — in golf
  17. prune — to trim
  18. bark — of a tree
  19. bark — a dog's sound
  20. swing — music
  21. lash — an eyelash
  22. lash — to lash out
  23. row — a quarrel
  24. hand — in cards

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