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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. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  2. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  3. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  4. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  5. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  6. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  7. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.
  10. I'll be taking the ________________.
  11. We will have lived in Kyoto for eight years next ________________.
  12. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  13. His birthday is in either ________________ or April.
  14. The band played a military ________________ at the parade.
  15. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  16. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  17. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  18. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. fan — to cool the air
  3. lash — a whip stroke
  4. wind — to turn a key
  5. fan — a supporter
  6. wind — moving air
  7. tube — a container
  8. drill — army training
  9. tube — in a tire
  10. tube — the underground
  11. march — the month
  12. drill — the tool
  13. march — the month
  14. march — music
  15. lash — an eyelash
  16. fan — a supporter
  17. drill — a practice
  18. wind — moving air

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