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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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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  2. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  6. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  7. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  8. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  9. The ball is in your ________________.
  10. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  11. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  12. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  13. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  14. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  15. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  16. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. He was locked up in a ________________.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. spell — magic
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. spell — letters
  5. court — of a king
  6. squash — the vegetable
  7. spell — a short time
  8. squash — the sport
  9. court — for sport
  10. vault — a safe
  11. squash — to crush
  12. vault — in gymnastics
  13. lash — an eyelash
  14. cell — a phone
  15. court — of law
  16. vault — an arched ceiling
  17. cell — in biology
  18. cell — in a prison

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