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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. You don't have to ________________ at me like that.
  2. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  3. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  4. He was locked up in a ________________.
  5. When I ________________ my fingers, you'll wake up.
  6. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  7. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  8. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  9. Oh no! I wasn't paying attention and left my ________________ phone in the restaurant!
  10. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  11. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  12. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  13. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  14. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  15. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  16. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  17. Each ________________ is a complete and highly sophisticated living world in its own right.
  18. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  21. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  22. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. ________________ out of it! You haven't done a thing all week.

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

Answer key

  1. snap — to speak sharply
  2. squash — to crush
  3. rock — to move gently
  4. cell — in a prison
  5. snap — to click
  6. lash — to lash out
  7. rock — music
  8. squash — the vegetable
  9. cell — a phone
  10. drill — a practice
  11. fork — to eat with
  12. lash — an eyelash
  13. bat — the animal
  14. fork — in a road
  15. bat — in an idiom
  16. drill — the tool
  17. cell — in biology
  18. squash — the sport
  19. drill — army training
  20. lash — a whip stroke
  21. bat — for baseball
  22. rock — a stone
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. snap — to snap out of it

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