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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: wound · lash · fine · band · straw · field · date · firm

  1. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  3. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  4. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  5. I got a ________________ for parking in the wrong place.
  6. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  7. Nothing provides more peace of mind than a ________________ decision.
  8. I'll stand ________________ for what I deserve.
  9. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  10. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  11. This shop sells ________________ wines and cheeses.
  12. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  15. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  16. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  17. I assure you, everything's ________________.
  18. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  22. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  23. She works as an advertiser at a New Jersey ________________.
  24. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. wound — an injury
  3. field — a subject
  4. band — a ring
  5. fine — a penalty
  6. band — a music group
  7. firm — decided
  8. firm — steady
  9. lash — a whip stroke
  10. wound — past of 'wind'
  11. fine — high quality
  12. wound — an injury
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. band — a rubber band
  15. date — the fruit
  16. field — farmland
  17. fine — all right
  18. straw — dry grass
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. date — on the calendar
  22. straw — to clutch at straws
  23. firm — a company
  24. field — for sport

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