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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: content · bat · date · jam · field · rash · lash · coach

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  5. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  6. Would you like some apricot ________________?
  7. Have you met the new head ________________?
  8. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  9. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  10. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  11. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  12. Why do cosmetics have an expiration ________________?
  13. A ________________ is a sweet brown fruit from a palm tree.
  14. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  15. The bus was late because of the traffic ________________.
  16. Tom got himself in a ________________.
  17. Don't do anything ________________.
  18. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  19. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  20. Have you settled on a ________________?
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  23. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  24. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. field — for sport
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. content — happy
  5. bat — in an idiom
  6. jam — to spread on bread
  7. coach — a trainer
  8. bat — the animal
  9. content — the amount
  10. field — a subject
  11. field — farmland
  12. date — on the calendar
  13. date — the fruit
  14. rash — on the skin
  15. jam — in traffic
  16. jam — a tight spot
  17. rash — hasty
  18. coach — a trainer
  19. lash — an eyelash
  20. date — on the calendar
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. content — videos and posts
  23. bat — for baseball
  24. rash — a series

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