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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.

Words on the sheet
468
Word bank
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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. Did you ________________ the meat?
  2. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  3. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  4. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  5. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  6. They retained the League and Cup in his second ________________.
  7. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Spring is a pleasant ________________.
  10. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  11. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  12. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  13. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  14. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. Are you the only one who has a ________________ to this door?
  19. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  20. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  21. Hard work is the ________________ to success.
  22. This piece is in a major ________________.
  23. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

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

Answer key

  1. season — to add flavour
  2. lash — a whip stroke
  3. lash — to lash out
  4. racket — a loud noise
  5. file — a tool
  6. season — in sport
  7. degree — from a university
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. season — of the year
  10. lash — an eyelash
  11. racket — for tennis
  12. drill — army training
  13. drill — a practice
  14. file — a line of people
  15. degree — an amount
  16. mine — an explosive
  17. file — a document
  18. key — for a lock
  19. degree — temperature
  20. racket — for tennis
  21. key — the most important part
  22. key — in music
  23. mine — for digging
  24. drill — the tool

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