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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. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  3. I'll be taking the ________________.
  4. How do you ________________ your surname?
  5. I want a large ________________ of toothpaste.
  6. The old man leaned on his ________________.
  7. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  8. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  9. I'm the one who owns all this ________________.
  10. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  11. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. It's hotel ________________. Please let me in.
  14. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  15. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  16. When are we going to ________________?
  17. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  18. The office ________________ worked quickly and efficiently to resolve the problem.
  19. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  20. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  21. False peace will not ________________.
  22. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  23. Algeria is a ________________ of gas and oil.
  24. I need a new inner ________________ for my bike tire.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — to lash out
  2. spell — a short time
  3. tube — the underground
  4. spell — letters
  5. tube — a container
  6. staff — a stick
  7. last — final
  8. wound — an injury
  9. land — ground
  10. spell — magic
  11. last — finally
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. staff — employees
  14. wound — past of 'wind'
  15. straw — dry grass
  16. land — to come down
  17. wound — an injury
  18. staff — employees
  19. straw — a straw man
  20. straw — to clutch at straws
  21. last — to go on
  22. lash — a whip stroke
  23. land — a country
  24. tube — in a tire

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