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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 116 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. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. My rich neighbors belong to a private golf ________________.
  5. Later, his shop becomes a ________________ with young dancers.
  6. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. The ________________ change colour in autumn.
  9. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  10. He was locked up in a ________________.
  11. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  12. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  13. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  14. I belonged to the harmonica ________________ in my high school days.
  15. False peace will not ________________.
  16. He always ________________ the window open while he sleeps.
  17. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  18. The train ________________ at six o'clock.
  19. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  20. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  21. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  22. The ball is in your ________________.
  23. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  24. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.

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

Answer key

  1. lash — a whip stroke
  2. rush — hurry
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. club — for golf
  5. club — for dancing
  6. cell — in biology
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. leaves — of a tree
  9. last — final
  10. cell — in a prison
  11. rush — to hurry
  12. cell — a phone
  13. court — of a king
  14. club — a group
  15. last — to go on
  16. leaves — lets stay
  17. last — finally
  18. leaves — to go away
  19. content — the amount
  20. lash — an eyelash
  21. content — happy
  22. court — for sport
  23. content — videos and posts
  24. court — of law

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